Master Outdoor Painters
Mary Cassatt By Armand Cabrera
Mary
Cassatt was born in Allegheny City, (Pittsburgh) Pennsylvania
in 1844, the daughter of Robert Simpson Cassatt and Katherine
Kelso Johnston. Cassatt’s father was a stockbroker
and real estate investor. When Cassatt was seven, her
family moved to Europe---first living in France and then
in Germany. They returned to America in 1855.
Cassatt enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Arts in 1861. After four years, Cassatt became dissatisfied
with the curriculum at the Academy and decided to pursue
independent study of the Masters in the museums of France,
Italy and Spain. In the 1860’s, this decision was
unthinkable for most Victorian women born into a well-to-do
family. The idea of women pursuing a career---let alone
a career in art---was vulgar to most of society and would
have risen more than a few eyebrows. Cassatt prevailed
over her family’s protestations and moved to Paris.
In Paris, she briefly studied in the Atelier of Charles
Chaplin and then studied on her own.
In
1871, Cassatt fled France at the outbreak of the Franco
Prussian War and returned to America. Later, she moved
to Parma, Italy where she studied engraving at the Parma
Academy. While in Italy, her first painting was accepted
into the Paris Salon under the name of “Mary Stevenson”.
In 1874, she returned to Paris. Cassatt admired the work
of Manet and Degas. Although she continued to submit to
the Salon, she was sympathetic towards the goals of the
younger artists. These artists sought the right to freely
exhibit their work without the restrictive jury process
followed by the salons. In 1877, she was rejected from
the Salon Show and never submitted again.
Cassatt
later met Degas. He admired her work and invited her to show
with the Impressionists. She participated in four Impressionist
shows--the only American to do so. Cassatt focused on capturing
modern women in natural settings. Her strong composition and
drawing skills set her apart from most of the other Impressionists.
She was a fine printmaker and produced groundbreaking work in
that field.
Cassatt was instrumental in seeing that Impressionist’s
works were collected in America. She helped build the Havemeyer
Collection which contained many fine examples of Manet, Monet
and Degas work. In 1892, Cassatt created a mural for the Chicago
Columbian Exhibition. With the sales from her second One Woman
Show, Cassatt bought a 17th Century Manor in the Oise Valley
in France. It became her summer home for the rest of her life.
Mary Cassatt developed cataracts in 1915, forcing her to abandon
her painting the last ten years of her life. She died in 1926.
Bibliography:
Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman
Art Institute of Chicago
Abrams
Mary Cassatt Oils and Pastels
E. John Bullard
Watson Guptill
Mary
Cassatt was born in Allegheny City, (Pittsburgh) Pennsylvania
in 1844, the daughter of Robert Simpson Cassatt and Katherine
Kelso Johnston. Cassatt’s father was a stockbroker
and real estate investor. When Cassatt was seven, her
family moved to Europe---first living in France and then
in Germany. They returned to America in 1855. 
In
1871, Cassatt fled France at the outbreak of the Franco
Prussian War and returned to America. Later, she moved
to Parma, Italy where she studied engraving at the Parma
Academy. While in Italy, her first painting was accepted
into the Paris Salon under the name of “Mary Stevenson”.
Cassatt
later met Degas. He admired her work and invited her to show
with the Impressionists. She participated in four Impressionist
shows--the only American to do so. Cassatt focused on capturing
modern women in natural settings. Her strong composition and
drawing skills set her apart from most of the other Impressionists.
She was a fine printmaker and produced groundbreaking work in
that field. 