Offering the Panal to the Bullfighter
During an extended stay in Spain in 1873, Cassatt made several paintings of local customs. This work depicts a young woman flirtatiously offering a glass of water to a bullfighter, who dips panal (honeycomb) into it to make a refreshing drink. The rich colors and dazzling brushwork are inspired by the seventeenth-century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, whose "fine and simple manner" Cassatt praised.
Credit: Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
1873
Oil on canvas
39.6 x 33.5in
1955.1
Image and text: The Clark Art Institute, 2024