The Blue Kimono, 1915, oil on canvas.

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Is Female Artist Friday a thing? If it is, I’m joining in! This painting by Lilla Cabot Perry caught my attention a long while ago at the San Diego Museum of Art – I love the flowers and the beautiful blue kimono so much!

Perry was born in Boston in 1848, and she didn’t start her formal artistic training until relatively late in life (after marrying and having three children) – from 1887-89, she and her family lived in Paris and she studied painting.

She became close friends with Monet and spent summers in Giverny. Key to her art was also three years spent living in Japan at the turn of the twentieth century. She loved Impressionism and Japanese fabrics and prints.⠀

Perry was celebrated as a portrait painter – this one here really shows the lasting impact of Japan on her work with the fabrics included. Also, the gold screen behind the mother and child is just so delicate and beautiful.

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Read more about Perry at National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Clark.