“The Flirtation: A Balcony in Seville,” created by Mary Cassatt in 1872, is an oil on canvas painting that embodies the Realism art movement. This genre painting is part of the collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA, United States. The artwork captures a candid moment of social interaction, bathed in the warm, natural light that is characteristic of Cassatt’s oeuvre.
In the artwork, three figures are depicted on a balcony, evoking an intimate scene set in Seville. The central female figure, adorned with a flower in her hair and a necklace of blue beads, is dressed in a patterned dress and appears jovially engaged with a man to her right. This man, whose hat shadows his face, leans towards her, indicative of a flirtatious exchange. To the left, another woman is portrayed leaning on the balcony railing, her gaze subtly directed towards the pair, suggesting a possible undercurrent of intrigue or contemplation within the narrative. The luminous portrayal of fabric textures and the adept use of light and shadow reveal Cassatt’s mastery in rendering the nuances of her subjects and their environment.
