April 28, 2025 by Sarah Pipino (‘26)
Mary Cassatt was an incredibly influential painter during her time, and still today. Her work, usually portraits of mothers and their children, was outstanding in that very few Impressionist artists were
commercially successful in America at the time, and even less so female Impressionists. Her paintings aided in developing the Impressionist movement, a 19th century movement led by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.
Mary Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania May of 1844, but spent most of her adolescence traveling throughout Europe, a circumstance that would greatly affect her later works. She spent most of her life in Paris, France, and there became lifelong friends with Edgar Degas, a fellow Impressionist artist.
Before I go too deeply into her style of painting, a little background is necessary. The first art movement I’d like to reference is Romanticism, which predated Realism and Impressionism and focused on art that showcased an ideal world. Paintings from this era overflowed with emotion and imagination, and were a critical time in art history. During the 19th century, however, many artists rejected Romanticism as living conditions worsened and factory work became the norm. This created the age of Realism: a radical era characterized by showcasing the reality of that period in all its grime and hopelessness. Most colors used were dark and gloomy, most subject matter was unsmiling, and all paintings showed the dull and difficult lives led by thousands. Impressionism built upon its Realism foundations by presenting daily life but did so in a more buoyant way. Instead of a woman crouched over a sewing machine entering her twelfth hour of work, you’d see a woman laughing as she walks with her friends in the park, surrounded by blooming flowers and trees. It was still realistic, but in a different way; it shone the light on the positives of life, even when there were so many negatives. Mary Cassatt was one of these artists: she wanted to show the world the brightest of ordinary experiences.
Mary Cassatt’s works portrayed the intimacy of everyday life. A girl braiding her hair as she prepares for bed, a mother watching over her restless toddler, two women commenting on an opera as they watched. Cassatt aimed to show the delicate strands that interweave to make up life and capture the intricacy of experiences we often overlook as we go through our daily routines. Her work was an inspiration to all that hold it in their gaze and will continue to be for many years to come.
