Mary Stevenson Cassatt

description

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American Impressionist. The main subjects of her works are the social and personal lives of women and motherhood.

She started her creative career with works in the classical style but later joined the Impressionists. The primary mentor and close friend of the artist was Edgar Degas. A personal lyricism and naturalness distinguish the works of Mary Cassatt. Despite the positive mood of all her paintings, Mary Cassatt’s life was not so carefree. Unsupported by her father, she was unrecognised in the United States.

All her life, Mary sought to be independent. Although her parents were against their daughter’s love for the arts, she decided to devote herself to painting and enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. However, dissatisfaction with the patronising attitude from the male half of the teachers made her take up self-education. In 1866, she moved to Paris. She regularly visited significant European museums and learned to draw skillfully with pastel. In France, the artist met Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro, who became her friends.

Until 1886, Mary was an active member of the Impressionist movement. Then she worked in other styles too.

Key ideas:

– Mary gave a characteristic sound to the depicting of motherhood. Her sentimental pictures about a mother and a child are full of love and kindness. The artist tirelessly painted everyday scenes of rest in the garden, bathing children, a morning toilet. She created many works in pastel techniques; Mary also performed engravings (etching, aquatint and dry needle).

– A distinguishing feature of her works is brightness. It seems like these paintings emit the artist’s love towards her models.
Till the end of her days, she remained a lonely feminist, without her own family.

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1844

1866

1872

1874

1879

1886

1891

1904

1914

1926

The birth of the artist

She was born on the 22nd of may in 1844 in Allegheny, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Movement to Paris

Having graduated from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Mary moved to Paris with her mother and friends. Despite the fact that her parents did not want her to become an artist, she decided to continue studying arts. Cassatt applied to study privately with masters from the school and was accepted to study with Jean-Léon Gérôme, a highly regarded teacher known for his hyper-realistic technique and his depiction of exotic subjects.

“Two Women Throwing Flowers During Carnival”

The artist’s first painting “Two Women Throwing Flowers During Carnival” was allowed to be shown at the Salon de Paris. Work on the picture began before the Parma Carnival season. Cassatt had been to a number of similar events in Paris and Rome. Quite often, young women perched in balconies above the streets would throw flowers down to gentlemen they were interested in… This canvas was purchased after the exhibition.

Meeting Degas

The painter met Edgar Degas, an artist that later became her friend and mentor. Degas had considerable influence on Cassatt. Both were highly experimental in their use of materials, trying distemper and metallic paints in many works. Degas also introduced her to etching, a technique in which he was a recognized master. The two worked side-by-side for a while, and her draftsmanship gained considerable strength under his tutelage. The artist depicted Mary in a series of etchings.

During an exhibition, critics of the Salon de Paris claimed that the colors of Mary Cassatt’s paintings were too bright. The artist did not agree with them. She was supported by Edgar Degas.

The exhibition of the Impressionists

Cassatt participated in an exhibition of the Impressionists. However, very soon there was a break in her career due to the illness of her relatives.

Searching for own original style

Cassatt resumed her career. During this period, the artist began to look for her artistic style, experimenting with colors. She created many works and took part in Impressionist exhibitions.

Lithographs

The artist exhibited a series of original color lithographs, which she had created after finding inspiration from the works of Japanese masters.

The artist was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.

The solo exhibition

In 1910-1914 she travelled around Egypt. The beauty of the country impressed her. However, soon Mary stopped painting because she was almost blind. In spite of that, she kept on participating in feminist movements and conducted her own exhibition in 1915.