Early Life

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was born into a wealthy family in the year 1844 in Allegheny city, which is now part of Pitsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. She later migrated to Europe and settled down permanently in France in 1874. Her father, Robert, was a successful stockbroker and land speculator and her mother came from a banking family. Cassatt spent five years of her childhood in Europe.

During this period, Cassatt visited many European capitals and learned German and French languages which would become helpful to her in her painting career. From her childhood, Mary Cassatt showed interest in painting. But her family disagreed with her wish. Despite her family’s disagreement, Cassatt began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia when she was only 15. She is best known for her Impressionistic paintings.

Paris, her Home

Cassatt began her formal training in art and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1862. From 1865, she continued her artistic education in Europe, studying in Rome, Paris and Madrid. Cassatt received training under Jean Leon Gerome and Thomas Couture in Paris. Cassatt honed her artistic skills by copying in the Louvre daily. She exhibited her first work ‘The Mandolin Player’ at the Paris Salon in 1868. With the start of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, she had to cut short her stay in Europe and return to Philadelphia.

Commission from the Archbishop

Cassette was finding it difficult to find a sufficient number of paintings to study. Because of this problem, she even considered giving up art altogether. Shortly afterwards, her work attracted the attention of the Archbishop of Pittsburgh. The Archbishop commissioned her to paint two copies of the paintings by Antonio da Correggio in Parma Italy. He also provided Cassett with enough money to cover her travel and stay in Stay. She travelled to several places in Italy, Spain, Belgium and Holland to study, examine and copy works by famous painters. A few months after returning to Europe, Cassatt prospects brightened.

‘Two Women Throwing Flowers During Carnival’, a success

Her painting, ‘Two Women Throwing Flowers During Carnival‘ was appreciated in the 1872 Salon and the painting also found buyers. After completing the paintings under commission by the Archbishop, Cassatt travelled to Madrid and Seville on a painting expedition. By 1874, she decided to live permanently in Paris and about three years later, her parents and her sister joined her in Paris. The French art scene was undergoing changes and Impressionists were forming their movement. Mary Cassatt was continuing the traditional manner and was submitting works to the Salon for over ten years. As she was finding her experience with the Salon was increasingly frustrating, she joined the Impressionists.

Frustration with the Salon

She had professional relationships with the famous painter Edgar Degas. She was the only American artist official associated with the Impressionist circle. Like so many other painters in the Impressionist painters, Cassett had become frustrated by the constraints placed by the Salon on the artworks that could be exhibited at the Salon. In 1877, the Salon rejected both her entries and for the first time in seven years, she had no works in the Salon. At this time, Edgar Degas, a well-known painter invited her to exhibit her works with the Impressionists. Thereafter, Cassette exhibited about 11 of her paintings at the first exhibition held in 1879. She also participated in the next three exhibitions held in 1880, 1881 and 1886.

Mutually beneficial association with Degas

Cassett’s association with the other artists in the group of Impressionists had a great impact on her art. Especially, her friendship with Degas helped both of them encourage each other immensely. In fact, Cassett helped Degas sell his works in the US. Their studios were very close to each other and hence they visited each other frequently and worked in collaboration. Although Cassatt sought to receive tenets of Impressionism, she always wanted to become independent as a woman artist throughout her career. Even her travel to Europe was against the wishes of her parents who wanted to be a wife and mother and not to be an artist with independent means of livelihood.

Cassatt’s Family and Work

Cassatt decided early in life that marriage would not be compatible with her career and both had not married. Her sister, Lydia, who was often sitting for her suffered from recurrent bouts of illness, died in 1882 and left Cassatt unable to work temporarily. As Cassatt’s father did not want to pay for her studio and supplies, she decided to work on quality paintings. She finished three of her most accomplished paintings, Portrait of the Artist (Self Portrait), Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, and Reading Le Figaro (portrait of her mother).

Year 1879, the Most Successful Year

For Cassatt, the Impressionist exhibition in 1879 was the most successful year in her painting career. In that year, the Impressionist exhibition made a profit for each of the artists in the group. Cassatt displayed eleven works, including ‘In the Loge. Cassatt exhibited her works in the Impressionist Exhibitions in 1880 and 1881 and she was an active member of the Impressionist circle until 1886. In the same year, Cassatt submitted two paintings for the first Impressionist exhibition in the US. She also served as an advisor to several major art collectors and advised them to donate their purchases eventually to Americal Art Museums.

Away from Impressionism

Many of Cassatt’s friends followed her advice, too. She remained a role model to many young American artists and introduced them to great painters like Camille Pissarro. Even when the fervour of Impressionism was dissipating, Cassatt stayed in touch with most of its members, including Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Pissarro. At a later date, Cassatt moved away from her Impressionist style. After 1886, she never identified herself with any art movements. Portraits of women, mothers and children were her favourite subjects. Later in her life, she became influenced by the Japanese masters and her painting ‘The Coiffure’ is an example.

Her Late Life

When she was at the peak of success in her artistic life, she was diagnosed with diabetes, rheumatism, neuralgia and cataracts in 1911. Though she was in no mood to stop painting, she had to stop in 1914 as she became almost blind. In spite of her physical disability, she showed eighteen of her works in 1915 in an exhibition supporting the cause of women’s suffrage. France awarded04 her the Legion d’honneur in 1904 in recognition of her contribution to art. She died on June 14, 1926, at Chateau de Beaufresne, near Paris.

Her Famous Paintings

Some of Cassatt’s well-known paintings are ‘Maternal Caress’ (1896 ), ‘Spanish Dancer Wearing a Lace Mantilla’ (1873), ‘The Mandoline Player’ (1868), ‘Tw’.o Women Throwing Flowers During Carnival’, (1872), ‘Little Girl in a Blue Armchiar’, (1878), ‘Portrait of the Artist (Self-portrait), (1878), ‘In the Loge’, (1878), ‘Alexander J. Cassatt and his son Robert Kelso’ (1884-1885), ‘The Coiffure’, (1880), ‘The Young Mother Sewing’, (1990).

‘Woman With a Fan’ (1878/79)

‘Woman with a Fan’ is one of Cassatt’s eleven works exhibited with the Impressionists in 1879. The other artists featured in the 1879 Fourth Impressionist Exhibition were Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro. Claude Monet’s Rue Montorgueil was an instant success along with those of Mary Cassatt. The other Cassatt’s iconic painting that attracted the most viewers was ‘Little Girl in a Blue Armchair’. Mary Cassatt officially became the impressionist painter after her success in this exhibition.

‘Little Girl in a Blue Armchair’ (1878)

Cassatt reworked this painting in 1879 with the help of her friend Edgar Degas who is known for experimenting with new painting styles and mediums. The viewer can see the light coming from the rear of the painting and a puppy resting on a sofa beside the one used by the girl. It is clear from the way the little girl and the puppy are lying on the sofa that they both are back after their respective tiresome physical activity and are enjoying the well-earned rest in the comfort of the smooth sofa.

‘Breakfast in Bed’

Mary Cassatt was one of the most famous female painters who made their mark in the male-dominated world of art. Her paintings often depict the relationship between mothers and their children. One of Cassatt’s memorable paintings, ‘Breakfast in Bed’ has a mother and her young child as its subject. Cassatt had spent years of hard work in catching the true nature of motherhood and depicting the tender nature of a mother’s love. Her painting ‘Breakfast in Bed’ which was completed in 1897 shows a lively young child sitting on the bed by the side of her mother. This painting has become one of the iconic portrayals of a mother and a child.