After the Bullfight

After the Bullfight — Mary Cassatt. 1873.

Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 82.5 × 64 cm (32 1/8 × 25 3/16 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Mary Cassatt chose a quintessentially Spanish subject, executing this composition of a bullfighter, or torero, in full regalia during an extended stay in Seville. Having trained in Philadelphia and Paris, Cassatt ventured to Spain to study the country’s Renaissance and Baroque works and to follow the path of French avant-garde artists like Édouard Manet. Depicting the performer at a relaxed moment, far removed from the spectacle and violence of the ring, Cassatt omitted narrative detail. Instead, with a modernist sensibility, she focused on the male figure in a casual pose, employing vigorous brushwork and rich pigment to describe the bullfighter’s costume and suggest his characteristic bravado.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.