How Much Is The Boating Party Worth?

Conclusion: Our synthesized fair‑market (auction) estimate for Mary Cassatt’s The Boating Party is $25–45 million, with an indicative insurance/loan value at $60 million. The picture is a signature, large‑scale, 1893–94 oil—an acknowledged masterpiece in Cassatt’s oeuvre—and is held by the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Washington. It has never been publicly auctioned; the work passed from the artist through Durand‑Ruel to collector Chester Dale and entered the NGA in 1963, where Dale‑gift restrictions effectively preclude loan or sale [1][4].

Method and market anchors: We derive the range by triangulating Cassatt’s recent market ceiling and high‑quality comparables, then applying a “masterpiece premium.” Cassatt’s current public auction record is $7,489,000 for Young Lady in a Loge, Gazing to Right (a prime, museum‑caliber pastel sold from the Ann & Gordon Getty Collection in 2022) [2]. Small to mid‑scale oils—strong but not canonical—have traded recently around $0.5–1.3 million, including an 1879 oil at €1,216,000 (≈$1.33m) in Paris in 2023, acquired by an institution [3]. The Boating Party is materially more important: a daring, Japonisme‑inflected composition of exceptional scale (90 × 117.3 cm), extensively exhibited and published, and routinely cited among Cassatt’s greatest works [1]. That combination of scale, period, subject ambition, and art‑historical stature warrants a step‑change over the artist’s record.

Positioning the estimate: The $25–45 million band reflects where a career‑defining Cassatt oil would clear if presented in a marquee evening sale with global marketing and appropriate financial backing. It explicitly recognizes that Cassatt’s public record understates demand for her very best works due to scarcity at the top of her market, while also acknowledging that her price tier historically trails male Impressionists. The upper end of the range captures competitive stretch potential for a masterpiece with this visibility, especially given renewed curatorial and public focus on Cassatt following major 2024–25 museum exhibitions [6].

Institutional context and replacement risk: The painting resides at the NGA with Chester Dale gift restrictions that keep it onsite; there is no public sale history and no disclosed insured value [1][4]. Museums typically insure irreplaceable masterpieces at a premium to auction comparables to reflect replacement risk and institutional protocols; a notional agreed value of ~$60 million is consistent with that practice in the absence of marketability [5].

Market conditions: Impressionist and Modern auction volumes dipped in 2023–24 largely from a shortage of trophy consignments, then stabilized with renewed appetite for best‑in‑class works in 2025. In such environments, blue‑chip, exhibition‑proven canvases attract concentrated competition and can outperform broader category indices [5]. Within this backdrop, The Boating Party would command exceptional interest from institutions and leading private collectors were it ever to be offered.