Mary Cassatt
Born – Pittsburgh, USA 1844
Died – Paris, France 1926
Mary Cassatt studied art in Philadelphia between 1861 and 1865 before travelling to Europe and settling in Paris in 1874. Here she made contact with Manet and the Impressionists, with whom she exhibited at the Salon and elsewhere between 1977 and 1881. Degas was a lifelong friend and her admiration for his work was reflected in her own pastel studies. With Degas, she shared an interest in Japanese art and composition. This is explicitly revealed in the character of her lithographs and etchings, print being a medium in which she excelled. Perhaps because of her subjects, or her gender, or both, Cassatt has not been recognized for the talented artist she was. A recurring motif was the relationship between mother and child, softly delineated to express sensitivity but tautly contained to keep sweetness in check. Degas wrote, in around 1890, that her preoccupation was with the study of “reflections and shadows on skin and costumes for which she has the greatest feeling and understanding”. In Mother and Child, the focus of attention is the emotional tie between baby and mother, who is totally enraptured by her infant. Cassatt’s vision is projected like a photograph, capturing an instant that defies words of description.
Masterpieces:
- La Loge
- Lady at the Tea Table
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About mary cassatt
Mary Cassatt
Daniel Ankele
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Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints
Frank Getlein
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Mary Cassatt (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)
Mike Venezia
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