A Series on Women Artists-Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt is a better known female painter of the Impressionist's period. Born in the United States to an affluent family, she spent much of her life in France. She became friends with Degas and Pissarro, who she first saw their works while traveling to the 1855 World's Fair. Cassatt studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She became a professional artist, against her families wishes because of concern for exposure to male students and undesirable behavior. During this period, Cassatt studied old masters on her own believing the teaching to be slow paced. In 1866, Cassatt moved to Paris. Unable to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, she hired the teachers and studied privately. Jean-Leon Gerome accepted Cassatt as a student and she began to study under his direction. During this time, she copied daily from the Louvre. In 1868, A Mandoline Player was accepted to the Salon. Cassatt had studied for a period with Thomas Couture where countryside trips allowed students the opportunity to draw from life.

This period was one of change, for many artists were trying to break from the traditional Salon. During this period, Impressionism began, but Cassatt would continue traditional painting for another 10 years before joining the group. Cassatt returned to the United States for a time during the Franco Prussian War in 1870 and could not wait to return to Europe. In 1877, after having been rejected by the Salon, Cassatt was invited to exhibit with the Impressionists by her friend Degas. The Impressionists were unique to the period and broke from the tradition by using vibrant color, and a change of technique and subject matter. Berthe Morisot was the only other woman member and she and Mary Cassatt became friends. Cassatt was influenced by Degas and studied intimately his pastels. She later used this medium in some of her major works. Cassatt continued showing with the Impressionist through 1886. Much of her work is that of mothers and children for subject matter. Many paintings are of her family and her known appeal to display actual behavior rather than idealized perfection. Squirming children, true to life adds character and style to her unique work. Once an active agent in the innovative Impressionist's scene, Cassatt was hostile to the cubism, and post-Impressionism work that followed. Mary Cassatt was an instrumental figure for woman artists. She showed works in an exhibition to support the women's suffrage movement during 1915. After 1914, Cassatt was no longer painting and nearly blind. Mary Cassatt died in 1926 and is buried in France.