Art Pick of the Week: The Marchesa Casati
Every week we’re sharing one of our favourite artworks from the AGO Collection for you to see on your next visit. If you need directions to find it, simply ask when you arrive!
Augustus Edwin John. The Marchesa Casati, 1919. Oil on canvas, Overall: 96.5 x 68.6 cm. Purchase, 1934. © Art Gallery of Ontario 2164
Walking through the AGO’s Margaret Eaton Gallery, admiring the work of Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso, you’re overcome with the feeling that someone is watching you. You turn around and lock eyes with a woman whose tousled red hair and seductive gaze captivate you. Say hello to Luisa Casati! For this week's Art Pick we're highlighting Augustus John's striking portrait, which has long been an AGO visitor favourite, The Marchesa Casati.
Marchesa Luisa Casati was born to a rich, Italian family in 1881. When she came of age in the 1900s, she was considered the quintessential modern woman. She was also, in many respects, a performance artist, (think her theatrical costumes, her elaborate makeup, her dyed hair, her menagerie of cheetahs, monkeys and cobras, and her over-the-top parties), shocking Europe with her eccentricity and her outlandish costumes. Her extravagance and narcissism were legendary, which might explain why so many artists agreed to paint her portrait.
Casati was no stranger to British portrait artist Augustus John. Over her lifetime, Casati had many extra-marital affairs with poets and artists, including John. The two met in 1919 while John was painting dignitaries at the Paris Peace Conference. Their initial meeting led to a thirty-five-year friendship, during which John painted Casati four times. Of the 125-plus known portrayals of Casati, John’s portrait is widely regarded as one of the most successful.
John’s portrait is provocative and alluring. The mountainous background draws comparisons to Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa – but John’s work seduces viewers with eroticism rather than mystery. Casati, adorned in a silk robe, suggestively turns her gaze toward the viewer through dark-lined eyes that seem to follow you around the room and, as some might say, well beyond these walls.
Well over 60 years since her death, Casati’s place in the hearts and minds of many museum-goers (and meme-lovers) is secure. On your next visit to the AGO, get up close and personal with The Marchesa Casati in the Margaret Eaton Gallery on Level 1, Gallery 137.
Stay tuned for next week’s Art Pick.
Admission to the AGO Collection and all special exhibitions is always free for AGO Members, AGO Annual Pass holders and visitors 25 and under.