Author: Kiara Perkins
Artist Mary Cassatt was a European-American born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Born to an upper-middle class family, Cassatt lived in France and Germany for a few years as a child. She became multilingual and viewed European art. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1860-1862. Cassatt then studied in Paris from 1865-1870, during which she had a painting titled The Mandolin Player accepted at the Paris Salon. Her studies were interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, and she returned to Philadelphia for a short time before heading to Europe in 1871 to study Correggio and Parmigianino in Italy. In 1873, Cassatt traveled within Europe to study Rubens, Velázquez, and Hals. In 1877, she was living in Paris again. She was invited to join an artist collective by Edgar Degas. This group is now known as the Impressionists. Mary Cassatt was the only American artist to exhibit officially with the Impressionists. She was a part of four of their eight exhibitions.
Mary Cassatt, The Mandolin Player, Circa 1870, Oil on canvas, Private Collection, Public Domain
Cassatt openly loathed the “conventional art” of her day. Her paintings focus on domestic life, specifically women and children. This subject matter became very popular for glorifying stereotypical “women’s work” when women were fighting for independence and voting rights. However, Cassatt’s work held significant meaning about the value of women as individuals, mothers, and healers. She never married or had children and chose to surround herself with progressive friends. She rarely depicted men in her work. Instead, she focused on the private and public lives of women. Cassatt’s representation of women stands out in the following ways: she shows women as independent people operating in public spaces, women pursuing interests that are simply for themselves, and women enjoying relationships with each other, and she depicts transformative interpretations of classic themes.
Mary Cassatt, The Opera, 1877, Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, MA, US, Public Domain
Cassatt’s paintings of women enjoying entertainment, such as The Opera, were made during a time in her life when she pursued her interests by studying in Paris. The Opera shows a woman enjoying what is most likely an afternoon matinee show. The increase in women’s autonomy and financial independence caused this new time slot to appear in the early 1850’s operas and theaters. By the 1900’s, the afternoon matinee was a common form of entertainment for women in the West.
Mary Cassatt, Woman Reading, 1878-79, Oil on canvas, Joslyn Art Museum,Omaha, NE, US, Public Domain
In Woman Reading, Cassatt’s sister Lydia is lounging on a green chair, reading a newspaper. The figure does not seem to notice or be bothered by being observed as she focuses on her task. This painting displays Cassatt’s ability to capture women acting naturally in private spaces because she was a woman. Her identity enabled her to capture these scenes in a way that avoids the performative aspect of posing for a painting.
After 1877, when she returned to help care for her ill sister, the subject matter of her work shifted to women in domestic spaces. The manner in which she captured women in her compositions differed from the way men were painting women. Cassatt’s work focused on the action of the figures rather than their physique. These paintings of her mother and sister show the women focusing intently on their newspapers and books. Composition, color, and form have more importance than “flattering” poses or performative angles. Cassatt also had a love for images of women in companionship with women. These compositions show the intimacy and closeness of this bond. The Tea (1879-80) and The Conversation (1896) are lovely depictions of the bond between women. Depicting female friendships was revolutionary at the time. The women are enthralled in conversation and activity. Cassatt subtly turns classical scenes into honest, feminine interpretations. Her intimate scenes of women in private spaces exude sensuality rather than sexualization. The women aren’t twisted or posed in a performative way. They are focused intently on whatever they are doing. Woman Bathing (1890-91) is an example of Cassatt taking a classic subject matter and doing it in a way no one had before. The figure is partially clothed, turned away from the viewer, and simply existing. They aren’t performing for the viewer or over-sexualized like they typically were in paintings by men. In images of women and children, Cassatt’s mothers are busy, loving, and strong. The children have an air of independence even when being cared for. These images have an intimacy and reality to them. They aren’t simply used as objects to make a pretty picture. The women in her paintings are sensual, realistic, and complex. As Mary Cassatt said, “Women should be someone, not something.”
Mary Cassatt, The Tea, 1879-1880, Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, MA, US, Public Domain
In The Tea, Cassatt emphasizes the women in the painting and their interaction. The two women sit in a highly decorated room with printed wallpaper and a marble fireplace mantle with an ornately framed painting above it. A steel tea set plays with the light sources. While the scene is highly detailed and decorated, the viewer’s eye goes instantly to the figures. They sit closely together on a couch. One of them sips tea while the other sits in contemplation. This relationship is one that many women are familiar with, and it was Cassatt’s very identity as a woman that allowed her to capture these private moments.
Mary Cassatt, The Conversation, 1896, Pastel on paper, Private Collection, Public Domain
The Conversation depicts two women talking, with one facing away from the viewer and one looking into her eyes listening intently. This piece displays Cassatt’s ability to capture the extraordinary bond that women share.
Mary Cassatt, The Child’s Bath, 1893, Oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US, Public Domain
The Child’s Bath captures a private scene of a mother bathing her child. Cassatt captured this theme many times over the years. This is one of my favorite Cassatt paintings. The triangular composition and the abstracted, loose patterning on the fabrics makes me feel at home with this painting. This piece displays Cassatt’s ability to capture women as complex beings. The figure is far from one-dimensional. She is bathing and comforting the child but also appears as if she will walk away afterwards to tend to another task or hobby. It is almost as if the viewer is part of the familial bond between the mother and child.
Here I am at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021 viewing Cassatt’s painting The Child’s Bath.
Cassatt's style was heavily influenced by the Japanese art on display around Paris and the wispy textures in Impressionist painting. Japanese art had a strong presence and influence in European art since Japan reopened its ports to the West in 1853. Japan was nearing the end of a hereditary military government known as the shogunate (1192 to 1867). Shoguns and their families were landowners and held immense political, societal, and military power. Opening the borders to the West occurred after decades of civil unrest in Japan that weakened the shogunate. United States Commodore Matthew Perry used this unrest to threaten Japan with naval bombardment if they did not open their borders to the West.
The opening of borders resulted in a historically significant shift in artistic influence, where Japanese art started being viewed by Westerners. Just as the realism of photography had Western artists questioning their purpose, exposure to Japanese art styles opened their eyes to the possibilities of what art could be. Western artists mostly modeled themselves after the representational Greek art, while Japanese art used outlines, abstraction, and stylization. The introduction of this art style had a massive impact on the Impressionists, shaped by the fast-paced nature of industrialism and railroad travel to paint in quicker styles. Cassatt’s mentor, Degas, was one of the first collectors of Japanese art in France. Degas adopted aspects of the art style: abstracted and clean backgrounds, asymmetry, and aerial perspective. Cassatt took inspiration from Japanese woodcuts, particularly the domestic scenes showing women doing everyday tasks. In Paris in 1890, she saw an exhibition of ukiyo-e prints owned by French collectors. The exhibition at École Nationale des Beaux-Arts contained 725 Japanese art prints. Cassatt bought prints by Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Utamaro. This show heavily influenced her compositions, subject matter, bold outlines, and the expanses of color that form her backgrounds. She went on to produce a series of 10 aquatints directly inspired by the style. These are now known as some of her best prints, marking her place as a lead printmaker of her time.
Katsushika Hokusai, Woman in Interior, 1799, Guimet Museum, Paris, France, Public Domain
Mary Cassatt, Woman Bathing, 1890-91, Aquatint and drypoint on paper, Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, Public Domain
Cassatt’s art is intimate and soft. Her work shows the autonomy, individuality, strength, and intimacy of women and their relationships. Her work depicts women as independent and fascinating. The Impressionist style of her art has an ethereal quality that mimics a dream or memory. Pushing against the popular narrative that women were empty vessels for over-sexualization and depersonalization or simply lifeless parts of a composition, Cassatt shows an honest and realistic glimpse into the lives of bourgeois women of her time.
Sources:
Abou-Jaoude, Amir Lowell. “A Pure Invention: Japan, Impressionism, and the West, 1853-1906.” The History Teacher50, no. 1 (2016): 57–82. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44504454.
The Art Story Contributors, "Mary Cassatt Artist Overview and Analysis," TheArtStory.org, Accessed September 3, 2023, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/cassatt-mary/life-and-legacy/#biography_header
Colta Ives, “Japonisme”, Metmuseum.org, Published October 2004, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm
Julie Warchol, “Mary Cassatt: The Fitting”, SCMA, Published August 29, 2013, https://scma.smith.edu/blog/mary-cassatt-fitting
Barbara Weinberg, “Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926)”, Metmuseum.org, Published October 2004, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cast/hd_cast.htm
Yeh, Susan Fillin. “Mary Cassatt’s Images of Women.” Art Journal 35, no. 4 (1976): 359–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/776228.
Image Sources: WikiArt, Britannica, Art Institute of Chicago
Banner Image: Mary Cassatt, Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1878, Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Public Domain