1. American Female Impressionist 1844-1926
Mary Cassatt
American
Female Impressionist
Known as one of “le trois grandes dames” (The Three Great Women) of Impressionism.
Born in Pennsylvania. Father was a well to do stockbroker and real estate owner. Mary’s mother was from a wealthy banking family. Mary was one of seven children, 2 of which died in infancy. The family traveled and lived overseas on and off for 10 years during Mary’s adolescence. At age 15, she enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was the first year of the civil war in the US.

2. Mary Cassatt was an American woman born in Pennsylvania in 1844.
Her parents didn’t want her to become an artist because they thought it would expose her to feminist ideas and bohemian behavior.
For a woman, art was seen as a skill not a career. However, she enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts anyway. She was met with resentment from the male faculty and students.
Dissatisfied with the quality of the school in Pennsylvania, Mary moved to Paris in 1866 where she took art lessons.
Mary’s family didn’t want her to become an artist. Her parents didn’t want her exposed to feminist ideas and bohemian behavior. For a woman, art was seen as a social skill not a career. In 1866 Mary moved to Paris. She took art lessons and copied museum pieces but women were not allowed to use models or go to the cafes where the male artists gathered.
Self-portrait 1878

3. After studying for two years in Paris, A Mandolin Player was Cassatt’s first painting to be displayed in the Salon, in 1868.
Her father disapproved of her career in painting, so she used a pseudonym, Mary Stevenson so as not to be found out.
At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Mary left France and returned to Pennsylvania where her father undervalued and refused to support her painting.
A Mandolin Player 1868

4. Finally, a church in Pennsylvania commissioned Cassatt to paint copies of work by Correggio, which gave her money to restart her career and return to Europe.
Her paintings were displayed in the Salon throughout the 1870’s until her desire to grow and experiment as an artist finally began to clash with the standards of the Salon.
Note the difference between her Salon paintings and her Impressionist paintings.
The Lodge 1882
(Impressionist)
When Wise Women
Speak 1872
(Salon)

5. Cassatt met the artist Edward Degas in Paris
Cassatt met the artist Edward Degas in Paris. Degas was an impressionist and a noted artist. Impressionist painting was becoming popular in Paris and Cassatt studied the impressionists work. Degas approved this painting of Cassatt’s, in fact, he may have even painted some of the background.
1878 Little Girl in a Blue Armchair
Cassatt meet the artist Edward Degas in Paris. Degas was an impressionist and a noted artist. Impressionist painting was becoming popular in Paris and Cassatt studied the Impressionist’s work . Degas approved this painting of Cassatt’s, in fact, he may have even painted some of the background. Japanese prints were popular at this time and you can see how Mary cropped the scene in that Asian style.
1878 Little Girl in a Blue Armchair

6. Note the similarities in the two paintings below.
Cassatt drew courage from Degas, whose pastels inspired her to continue in her own direction. At Degas’ invitation, Cassatt exhibited 11 of her paintings with the Impressionists in The show was a huge success both commercially and critically.
Note the similarities in the two paintings below.
The Conversation, Mary Cassatt 1896
The Dancers in the Studio, Edgar Degas 1884

7. “I have touched with the sense of art some people – they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that for an artist?”
Mary Cassatt
Cassatt wanted to celebrate women. She wanted to celebrate their daily lives. She painted women more than any other subject.
Why do you think this is? What do her paintings say about the role of women during that day and age?
Young Woman sewing in a Garden 1886
This painting is hanging in the Louvre in Paris. The same museum where Cassatt copied the “masters” and learned to paint!
Impressionists often painted outside.
Cassatt wanted to celebrate women. She wanted to celebrate their daily lives. She painted women more than any other subject.
What are some of the things you do every day?
Young Woman Sewing in a Garden 1882

8. Shortly after her first exhibition with the Impressionists, Cassatt was forced to withdraw from the art world in order to care for her ill mother and sister.
By 1885, she had slowly started up again, but by 1886 she had done her last show with the Impressionists and had withdrawn from identification with any particular style.
As you can see in this painting, she was starting to be influenced by the Japanese prints of this period. Notice the patterns on the wallpaper as well as the woman’s dress as well as the flat planes of color and simplified color palette.
The Letter
Letter writing was an important part of everyday life. Women were often responsible for keeping in touch with family members by writing letters. The drop leaf desk in this print still belongs to the artist’s family.
You can see how the style of this print was influenced by the popular Japanese prints of this period. Notice the patterns on the wallpaper as well as the woman’s dress.
Do you like this print? Why or why not?
The Letter

9. The Bath, 1892
A major theme for Cassatt was the intimate bond between mothers and their children.
What feeling does the cropping of the painting give the viewer? (intimate, absorption in a task) How many different patterns do you see?
Cassatt had many wealthy friends. She would often help people buy impressionist work for their collections and had been a consultant for various collectors. She definitely had ties to the upper crust of society. Her brother owned a railway company and was married to the niece of the US president.
Breakfast in Bed 1897

10. The Boating Party 1893-94 1893-94 The Boating Party
The flat planes and simplified color makes this painting the most “Japanese” of all of her paintings.
Where do all of the lines converge?? (at the child and mother)
The Boating Party

11. In 1910 Cassatt took a trip to Egypt with her brother
In 1910 Cassatt took a trip to Egypt with her brother. The magnificent ancient art made her question her own talent. Soon after their return home, her brother died unexpectedly.
She was unable to paint again until However, in 1915 she was forced to give up painting altogether as she began to go blind from diabetes.
As the story goes, she died in 1926 full of bitterness about not having been able to paint for the last decade of her life.
Young Mother Sewing 1902
Cassatt celebrated womanhood and maternity in her art. She was considered a feminist at the time.
Do you think that Cassatt was successful at celebrating women’s lives?
What were Cassatt’s paintings about?
What do they teach you about this time period?
Sadly as Cassatt began to age, she lost her eyesight and she was no longer able to paint. She has to quit painting around 1910 and she died in 1926.

12. Impressionist Art
Impressionism is by definition a theory or practice in painting of depicting the natural appearances of objects by means of dabs or strokes of primary unmixed colors in order to simulate actual reflected light
Notice in the painting below that the water is broad strokes of different colors that visually blend when seen together. You can feel the texture of the water from the brush strokes without it being very realistic.
Summertime 1894

13. Now it is your turn!
First choose a piece of the “Profile of Lydia” painting.
Take a rectangular piece of paper. Write your name and the number of the piece on the back of the paper.
Use a pencil to draw an outline of the shapes from your painting piece onto the paper.
Use colored pencils to draw lines and splotches on your paper to emulate the painting. Remember that colors visually blend together so look closely at your picture and notice all the different colors.
When you are finished with your piece of the painting, give it to the Art Discovery teacher to piece together with the rest of the class’s work.
Now your class has its very own Cassatt painting!