Impressionism: Art and Modernity | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
The artists' loose brushwork gives an effect of spontaneity and ... New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1961. Tinterow, Gary, and Henri Loyrette ...
Mary Cassatt
Perhaps the prime site of modernity in the late nineteenth century was the city of Paris itself, renovated between 1853 and 1870 under Emperor Napoleon III. His prefect, Baron Haussmann, laid the plans, tearing down old buildings to create more open space for a cleaner, safer city. Also contributing to its new look was the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), which required reconstructing the parts of the city that had been destroyed. Impressionists such as Pissarro and Gustave Caillebotte enthusiastically painted the renovated city, employing their new style to depict its wide boulevards, public gardens, and grand buildings. While some focused on the cityscapes, others turned their sights to the city’s inhabitants. The Paris population explosion after the Franco-Prussian War gave them a tremendous amount of material for their scenes of urban life. Characteristic of these scenes was the mixing of social classes that took place in public settings. Degas and Caillebotte focused on working people, including singers and dancers, as well as workmen. Others, including Berthe Morisot and <anchor>Mary Cassatt</anchor>, depicted the privileged classes. The Impressionists also painted new forms of leisure, including theatrical entertainment (such as Cassatt’s 1878 In the Loge [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]), cafés, popular concerts, and dances. Taking an approach similar to Naturalist writers such as Émile Zola, the painters of urban scenes depicted fleeting yet typical moments in the lives of characters they observed. Caillebotte’s 1877 Paris Street, Rainy Day (Art Institute, Chicago) exemplifies how these artists abandoned sentimental depictions and explicit narratives, adopting instead a detached, objective view that merely suggests what is going on.
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926) | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926) \| Essay \| The Metropolitan Museum of Art \| Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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#### [Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History](/toah) [Essays](/toah/essays)

# Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926)

[![Portrait of the Artist](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10409/32484/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10409)

#### [Portrait of the Artist](/art/collection/search/10409)

Mary Cassatt


[![The Cup of Tea](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10388/32483/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10388)

#### [The Cup of Tea](/art/collection/search/10388)

Mary Cassatt


[![Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/358801/767317/main-image)](/art/collection/search/358801)

#### [Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery](/art/collection/search/358801)

Edgar Degas


[![Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10393/35817/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10393)

#### [Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly](/art/collection/search/10393)

Mary Cassatt


[![Lilacs in a Window (Vase de Lilas a la Fenetre)](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/13758/46823/restricted)](/art/collection/search/13758)

#### [Lilacs in a Window (Vase de Lilas a la Fenetre)](/art/collection/search/13758)

Mary Cassatt


[![Lady at the Tea Table](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10391/1905216/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10391)

#### [Lady at the Tea Table](/art/collection/search/10391)

Mary Cassatt


[![Mother and Child (The Oval Mirror)](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10401/32453/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10401)

#### [Mother and Child (The Oval Mirror)](/art/collection/search/10401)

Mary Cassatt


[![Woman Bathing (La Toilette)](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/337064/764588/restricted)](/art/collection/search/337064)

#### [Woman Bathing (La Toilette)](/art/collection/search/337064)

Mary Cassatt


[![Maternal Caress](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/364213/765264/restricted)](/art/collection/search/364213)

#### [Maternal Caress](/art/collection/search/364213)

Mary Cassatt


[![Nurse Reading to a Little Girl](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/13533/34336/restricted)](/art/collection/search/13533)

#### [Nurse Reading to a Little Girl](/art/collection/search/13533)

Mary Cassatt


[![Mother Playing with Child](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10404/33055/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10404)

#### [Mother Playing with Child](/art/collection/search/10404)

Mary Cassatt


[![Mother Feeding Child](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10403/33780/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10403)

#### [Mother Feeding Child](/art/collection/search/10403)

Mary Cassatt


[![Mother and Child (Baby Getting Up from His Nap)](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10400/33128/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10400)

#### [Mother and Child (Baby Getting Up from His Nap)](/art/collection/search/10400)

Mary Cassatt


[![Young Mother Sewing](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/10425/32441/restricted)](/art/collection/search/10425)

#### [Young Mother Sewing](/art/collection/search/10425)

Mary Cassatt


[![Denise at Her Dressing Table](https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/18838/31285/restricted)](/art/collection/search/18838)

#### [Denise at Her Dressing Table](/art/collection/search/18838)

Mary Cassatt


**H. Barbara Weinberg**

The American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926), born in Allegheny City (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, spent her early years with her family in France and Germany. From 1860 to 1862, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. By 1865, she had convinced her parents to let her study in [Paris](/toah/hd/ampa/hd_ampa.htm), where she took private lessons from leading academic painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, copied works of the old masters, and went sketching. She stayed in Courance and Écouen and studied with Édouard Frère and Paul Soyer. In 1868, Cassatt’s painting _The Mandolin Player_ (private collection) was accepted at the [Paris Salon](/toah/hd/sara/hd_sara.htm), the first time her work was represented there. After three-and-a-half years in France, the Franco-Prussian War interrupted Cassatt’s studies and she returned to Philadelphia in the late summer of 1870.

Cassatt returned to Europe in 1871. She spent eight months in Parma, Italy, in 1872, studying the paintings of Correggio and [Parmigianino](/toah/hd/zino/hd_zino.htm) and working with the advice of Carlo Raimondi, head of the department of [engraving](/toah/hd/engr/hd_engr.htm) at the Parma Academy. In 1873, she visited Spain, Belgium, and Holland to study and copy the works of [Velázquez](/toah/hd/vela/hd_vela.htm), [Rubens](/toah/hd/rvd_p/hd_rvd_p.htm), and [Hals](/toah/hd/hals/hd_hals.htm). In June 1874, Cassatt settled in Paris, where she began to show regularly in the Salons, and where her parents and sister Lydia joined her in 1877. That same year, [Edgar Degas](/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm) invited her to join the group of independent artists later known as the [Impressionists](/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm). The only American officially associated with the group, Cassatt exhibited in four of their eight exhibitions, in 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1886. Under their influence, Cassatt revised her technique, composition, and use of color and light, manifesting her admiration for the works of the French avant-garde, especially Degas and [Manet](/toah/hd/mane/hd_mane.htm). Degas, her chief mentor, provided criticism of her work, offered advice on technique, and encouraged her experiments in [printmaking](/toah/hd/prnt2/hd_prnt2.htm). Like Degas, she was chiefly interested in figure compositions. During the late 1870s and early 1880s, the subjects of her works were her family (especially her sister Lydia), the theater, and the [opera](/toah/hd/opra/hd_opra.htm). Later she made a specialty of the [mother and child](/toah/hd/scen/hd_scen.htm) theme, which she treated with warmth and naturalness in paintings, [pastels](/toah/hd/papo/hd_papo.htm), and prints.

Cassatt’s role as an advisor to art collectors benefited many public and private collections in the United States. From her early days in Paris, she encouraged the collection of old masters and the French avant-garde. In 1901, she accompanied Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer on a collecting trip in Italy and Spain. Cassatt had known Mrs. Havemeyer before her marriage. In 1873, she had encouraged the then seventeen-year-old Louisine Elder to buy a pastel by Degas, and the two women became close friends. Cassatt was eventually instrumental in shaping the Havemeyer collection, most of which is now in the Metropolitan Museum.

Failing eyesight severely curtailed Cassatt’s work after 1900. She gave up printmaking in 1901, and in 1904 stopped painting. She spent most of the war years in Grasse and died in 1926 at her country home, Château de Beaufresne, at Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise.

* * *

#### Citation

Weinberg, H. Barbara. “Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926).” In _Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History_. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cast/hd\_cast.htm (October 2004)

#### Further Reading

Barter, Judith A., et al. _Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman_. Exhibition catalogue. Chicago: Art Institute, 1998.

#### Additional Essays by H. Barbara Weinberg

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [William Merritt Chase (1849–1916)](/toah/hd/chas/hd_chas.htm).” (July 2011)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [American Impressionism](/toah/hd/aimp/hd_aimp.htm).” (October 2004)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)](/toah/hd/sarg/hd_sarg.htm).” (October 2004)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [American Scenes of Everyday Life, 1840–1910](/toah/hd/scen/hd_scen.htm).” (September 2009)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [Americans in Paris, 1860–1900](/toah/hd/ampa/hd_ampa.htm).” (October 2006)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [Childe Hassam (1859–1935)](/toah/hd/hass/hd_hass.htm).” (October 2004)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)](/toah/hd/whis/hd_whis.htm).” (April 2010)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [Thomas Eakins (1844–1916): Painting](/toah/hd/eapa/hd_eapa.htm).” (October 2004)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [Winslow Homer (1836–1910)](/toah/hd/homr/hd_homr.htm).” (October 2004)

- Weinberg, H. Barbara. “ [The Ashcan School](/toah/hd/ashc/hd_ashc.htm).” (April 2010)


### Related Essays

- [American Scenes of Everyday Life, 1840–1910](/toah/hd/scen/hd_scen.htm)
- [Americans in Paris, 1860–1900](/toah/hd/ampa/hd_ampa.htm)
- [Impressionism: Art and Modernity](/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm)
- [Japonisme](/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm)
- [Women Artists in Nineteenth-Century France](/toah/hd/19wa/hd_19wa.htm)
- [American Impressionism](/toah/hd/aimp/hd_aimp.htm)
- [American Women Sculptors](/toah/hd/scul/hd_scul.htm)
- [Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)](/toah/hd/augu/hd_augu.htm)
- [Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872–1955)](/toah/hd/bess/hd_bess.htm)
- [Childe Hassam (1859–1935)](/toah/hd/hass/hd_hass.htm)
- [Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Bronze Sculpture](/toah/hd/dgsb/hd_dgsb.htm)
- [Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Painting and Drawing](/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm)
- [Édouard Manet (1832–1883)](/toah/hd/mane/hd_mane.htm)
- [The Eighteenth-Century Pastel Portrait](/toah/hd/papo/hd_papo.htm)
- [John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)](/toah/hd/sarg/hd_sarg.htm)
- [Nineteenth-Century American Drawings](/toah/hd/amdr2/hd_amdr2.htm)
- [Nineteenth-Century American Folk Art](/toah/hd/afkp/hd_afkp.htm)
- [Nineteenth-Century French Realism](/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm)
- [The Opera](/toah/hd/opra/hd_opra.htm)
- [The Print in the Nineteenth Century](/toah/hd/prnt2/hd_prnt2.htm)
- [The Salon and the Royal Academy in the Nineteenth Century](/toah/hd/sara/hd_sara.htm)
- [Thomas Eakins (1844–1916): Painting](/toah/hd/eapa/hd_eapa.htm)
- [Woodblock Prints in the _Ukiyo-e_ Style](/toah/hd/ukiy/hd_ukiy.htm)

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### Keywords

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### Artist or Maker

- [Cassatt, Mary](/toah/artist/mary-cassatt)
- [Degas, Edgar](/toah/artist/edgar-degas)
- [Eakins, Thomas](/toah/artist/thomas-eakins)
- [Gérôme, Jean-Léon](/toah/artist/jean-leon-gerome)

### Online Features

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