Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt came from Pennsylvania to Paris and became the only American in the Impressionist circle – famous for her pictures of mothers and children.

Life

Born near Pittsburgh in 1844, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and went to Europe in 1866. In 1874 she settled in Paris; Edgar Degas invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists, which she did from 1879. She advised American collectors to buy Impressionist works, helping to ensure that many of them hang in US museums today. From about 1914 she lost most of her sight. She died in France in 1926.

Style & technique

Cassatt combined the light, loose handling of the Impressionists with firm drawing. From Japanese woodblock prints she learned clear outlines, flat patterns and unusual viewpoints – especially in her colour prints of 1891. Her mothers and children are not sentimental but closely observed: closeness, tiredness, everyday life.

Look closely

  • The closeness: how do the figures touch – hands, cheeks, glances?
  • The patterns: dresses and wallpapers as flat ornament, as in Japanese prints.
  • The viewpoints: we often look down from above or come very close.

Timeline

  • 1844: Born near Pittsburgh.
  • 1874: Settles in Paris.
  • 1879: First exhibits with the Impressionists.
  • 1891: Ten colour prints inspired by Japanese art.
  • 1926: Dies at Le Mesnil-Théribus near Paris.

Works in the museum