Dreamy Childhood in Lilla Cabot Perry’s Artworks

Adults say that childhood is the best phase of life. This is a time when we are freer and more sincere, and sometimes where our best memories come from. Lilla Cabot Perry might have thought so to make childhood a dominant theme of her oeuvre.

Lilla Cabot was born in 1848 in Boston, and her own childhood was very memorable. From a very young age, she cultivated an interest in literature, music, and drawing. Her caring parents provided access to libraries and museums, while her friends taught her some drawing techniques.

But the time passed, and small Lilla grew up. In 1874, she married Thomas Perry, a linguistics teacher. Two years later, they had a daughter, Margaret, who would become the first girl to appear in Lilla’s paintings. In the following years, Cabot Perry gave birth to Edith (1880) and Alice (1884). The three daughters became her primary models.

In her first painting, Portrait of an Infant, Cabot Perry makes evident how light and shadow can heighten emotional impact. We almost cannot see the face of little Margaret, who is also completely oblivious to the observer. It is a singular moment of the girl’s childhood registered with the emotion of the painter and mother.

Almost ten years after this first portrait, Cabot Perry begins her formal education in art, still in Boston. Her first work of this period was The Beginner. Margaret once again became the model for her mother.

In 1887, the Perrys moved to France. The painter continued her studies in Paris, not only attending classes, but also constantly visiting museums. It is at this time that she met Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Mary Cassatt, with whom she soon established deep friendships. Lilla immediately clicked with Impressionism and began experimenting. From that moment on, Perry’s work began to focus heavily on the effects of color and light. She took the opportunity to portray her daughters in the gardens and other open-air places.

Cabot Perry’s painting technique underwent quite a transformation. In place of the dramatic light effects of her early works, she adopted a freer style with less rigid brush strokes. With time, she became an Impressionist painter, as we can see from Alice in the Lane, a portrait of her youngest daughter.

Cabot Perry spent some time in Giverny studying the Impressionist technique with Claude Monet, whose many portraits and landscapes were produced there. We can see how Giverny affected her style: her works vibrated with colors, revealing the artist fully absorbed in the spirit of Impressionism.

Cabot Perry’s family traveled a lot, which contributed to the variety of her work. Her husband was invited to teach in Japan, where Cabot Perry drew influence from Oriental art and Japanese painting techniques. Yet, despite such diverse experiences, Cabot Perry continued to represent childhood.

Cabot Perry continued painting until she died in 1932, aged 88. She had a volatile career as a painter, and her works were key to bringing American Impressionism to the mainstream art scene. All she learned from other artists became part of her unique style.