Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was an American painter and printmaker who was one of the few female artists essential to the development of the Impressionist movement. Although American, Cassatt spent most of her adult life in France, exhibiting alongside her Parisian peers. She was strongly encouraged by Edgar Degas, who invited her to join the group in 1877. She went on to exhibit in four of the eight Impressionist shows.
Subject Matter: The Cult of Domesticity
Cassatt’s most famous works focus almost exclusively on the private and social lives of women. She created a powerful body of work centered on the theme of mother and child, a subject that transcended mere sentimentality. Her compositions show mothers and children in moments of quiet intimacy, reading, bathing, or simply existing together, offering a deeply psychological and unsentimental view of motherhood. Her access to this domestic sphere, which was largely off-limits to her male colleagues, gave her work a unique and authentic perspective.
Style and Technique
Cassatt’s style skillfully blended the spontaneity of Impressionism with a strong sense of line and form.
Impressionism Meets Realism: While she adopted the Impressionist palette of bright colors and captured moments of daily life, she never completely abandoned the solid drawing and structure she learned from the Old Masters. This gave her work a powerful foundation.
Japanese Influence: Cassatt was heavily influenced by Japanese woodblock prints (known as Ukiyo-e). This influence led her to use bold outlines, flat areas of color, and unusual compositions, such as high viewpoints or abruptly cropped figures, which she often applied to her pastel drawings and colored etchings.
Mary Cassatt remains highly valued not only as an essential Impressionist but also as a figure who used her art to give dignity and focus to the inner lives of women.
