Mary Cassatt Liza Nemirovski and Karli Livingston

History / Style Mary Cassatt was one of the leading artists in the Impressionist movement of the later part of the 1800s. She later moved to Paris and stopped painting at old age due to poor eyesight. She began her study with private art lessons in the Louvre, where she would study and copy masterpieces. Women were discouraged from pursuing a career but still Eventually moved back home due to the Franco-Prussian War Her new work drew criticism for its bright colors and unflattering accuracy of its subjects. Admired David Degas and became friends Mary Cassatt became famous for her portraits. She was especially drawn to women in everyday domestic settings, especially mothers with their children and were unconventional because of their direct and honest nature. Her final exhibition with the Impressionists was in 1886 and went for a more straightforward approach.

Woman in a loge One of several theatre scenes that Cassatt painted in the 1870s. The woman depicted is possibly Cassatt’s sister, Lydia. This painting is influenced by Edgar Degas. This artwork demonstrates leisurely brushwork and spatial construction The figure is placed straight in the center with her back only seen in the mirror.

The Child’s Bath In this artwork there unconventional devices such as cropped forms, bold patterns and outlines, and a flattened perspective. All of these techniques were learned when she studied Japanese woodblock painting. The lively colors in the painting play off of each other in order to point out the nakedness of the child. The elevated vantage point allows the viewer to observe, but not participate in, this intimate scene. The subject of the painting is “the tender absorption of a woman with a child.”