Mary (Stevenson) Cassatt - Early life, Impressionism, Later life

Painter, born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, USA. Born into a prosperous family, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1861–5) but found it out-dated. During 1866–74 she studied and painted in Paris, Italy, Spain, and Holland, finally settling in Paris, her home for the rest of her life. Befriended by Degas, she was soon characterized as an Impressionist painter in both style and subject matter. By 1883 she was emphasizing more the linear aspect, and the 1890 exhibition of Japanese prints in Paris also influenced her style. She never married, but her own family gradually joined her in Paris. After 1910 her increasingly poor eyesight virtually put an end to her serious painting. She is best known for her luminous portraits of women and children, such as ‘The Morning Toilet’ (1886) and ‘Mother Feeding a Child’ (1898). A less recognized legacy was her influence in getting many Americans to acquire Impressionist and other contemporary French paintings now in US museums.

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American painter. Cassatt (pronounced ca-SAHT) specialized in painting the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.

Early life

Born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, which is now part of Pittsburgh, she was the daughter of a well-to-do businessman.

Despite her family's objections to her becoming a professional artist, she began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1861-1865).

Returning to the United States at the outset of the Franco-Prussian War, Cassatt lived with her family, but art supplies and models were difficult to find in the small town.

Impressionism

By 1872, after studying independently in the major European museums, her style matured, and in Paris she studied with Camille Pissarro.

The jury accepted her first painting for the Paris Salon in 1872.

Upon seeing pastels by Edgar Degas in an art dealer's window, though, she knew she was not alone in her rebellion against the Salon. Like Degas, Cassatt became extremely proficient in the use of pastel, eventually painting many of her most important works in this medium.

Shortly after her triumphs with the Impressionists, Cassatt quit painting to care for her mother and sister, who fell ill after moving to Paris in 1877. Her sister died in 1882, but her mother regained her health, and Cassatt resumed painting by the mid-1880s.

Her style evolved, and she moved away from impressionism to a simpler, straightforward approach.

In 1891, she exhibited a series of highly original colored prints, including Woman Bathing and The Coiffure, inspired by the Japanese masters shown in Paris the year before. (See Japonism.)

Later life

The 1890s were Cassatt's busiest and most creative time. As the new century arrived, she served as an advisor to several major art collectors and stipulated that they eventually donate their purchases to American art museums. Although instrumental in advising the American collectors, recognition of her art came more slowly in the United States.

Mary Cassatt's brother, Alexander Cassatt, (president of the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1899 until his death) died in 1906.

A trip to Egypt in 1910 impressed Cassatt for the beauty of its ancient art.

In recognition of her contributions to the arts, France awarded her the Légion d'honneur in 1904.

She died on June 14, 1926 at Château de Beaufresne, near Paris, and was buried in the family vault at Mesnil-Théribus, France.

As of 2005, her paintings had sold for as much as $2.8 million.