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Let’s Explore ArtMar CaaAmerican ImpressionistA child’s guideby Katie Smith

1Who was Mary Cassa?Mary Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania in 1844. Cassatt created many beautiful pictures of women and children. She enjoyed working with oil paint, watercolor, and pastels. She also made prints. She started art school in the United States, then moved to France to study art. She spent most of her adult life in France. There, she joined a group of artists called the Impressionists. She became friends with many of these artists.She died in France in 1926. Mary Cassatt is one of the most famous American artists. Her paintings are in many museums all over the world.

2Mary Cassa Goes to ParisWhen she was 16, Mary Cassatt enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After four years there, Cassatt became frustrated that women students were not allowed to draw the same subjects as the men.Cassatt wanted to become a professional artist, but her parents didn’t approve, since women did not paint professionally in the 1860s. After much convincing, Mary Cassatt and her mother moved to Paris, France in 1866. Mary Cassatt at the Louvre by Edgar Degas (1880)

3Women were not allowed to go to art school in Paris. So, Cassatt received private lessons from French artists. She also studied art by observing and copying from paintings that hung in the Louvre Museum in Paris.Art Students in the Louvre Gallery by Winslow Homer (1868)

4What’s Impressionism?Mary Cassatt was an Impressionist. Impressionists did not try to paint perfectly. They wanted to show the emotion of what they saw using many colors and few details. They painted an impression of reality. That’s why they were called Impressionists!

5Impressionists often used quick (and messy) brushstrokes. They wanted to show the beauty of everyday life.The Impressionist painters’ unique style was called Impressionism.Poor baby! I hope she’ll feel better. See how Cassatt shows how sad the baby is with only a few details, lots of color, and messy brush strokes. This detail is from a painting calledSusan Comforting the Baby (1881).(Left) Spring: Margot Standing in a Garden, 1900

6Famous PaintingsThe Child’s Bath, 1893Children Playing on the Beach, 1884Young Mother Sewing, 1900These are some of Mary Cassatt’s most famous works. She often used oil paints.

7Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1878Five O’Clock Tea, 1880I like how each picture tells a story from everyday life with lots of color. How many dierent colors do you think Mary Cassatt used?

8Degas, Cassa, & MorisotDuring her stay in Paris, Mary Cassatt was able to see paintings by another famous painter, Edgar Degas. Degas was famous for painting ballerinas. Cassatt liked his new style and how he painted feelings into his work. Cassatt felt that Degas was someone who thought the way she did about art. Cassatt nally met Edgar Degas around 1875. He was older than Cassatt. He admired Cassatt’s attention to detail and drawing skills. He became her tutor, and they were fast friends. Later, they even shared a studio. Edgar Degas Self-Portrait, 1863 The Star (1878), Edgar Degas

9Degas was a founding member of the Impressionists, a group of nine artists that included another woman painter, Berthe Morisot. Degas introduced Cassatt to the group. Morisot and Cassatt had many things in common. Morisot painted scenes from nature and focused on painting women and children. Her work was light, bright, and colorful. Cassatt found her style inspiring. Look at Morisot’s painting, In the Dining Room. You can see that she used lots of bright color and large messy brushstrokes. If you look at Mary Cassatt’s paintings, you will see that they have a lot in common with this painting by her friend.Berthe Morisot Self-Portrait, 1885 In the Dining Room (1875), Berthe Morisot

10Cassa Makes PrintsIn April 1890, Mary Cassatt saw an exhibition of Japanese woodcut prints in Paris. The prints were made by Japanese artists in the late 1700s. Cassatt liked the way the Japanese artists used simple lines and bright colors. She also liked that the prints showed scenes from everyday life.The print on the left was made in 1793 by a Japanese artist named Kitagawa Utamaro. Cassatt collected prints by Utamaro and other Japanese artists. On the right, is a print by Mary Cassatt called In the Omnibus, made in 1890. It shows a mother, her baby, and a nanny riding on a trolley. Cassatt used the same simple lines and bright colors she saw in Japanese prints to make her art.

11Mary Cassatt used a technique called etching. She would scratch a design into a metal plate, then coat the plate with ink. The ink would stick to the carved design, then transfer onto the paper, like a stamp. Cassatt’s prints are beautiful and unique. They are a wonderful example of how art can be inuenced by other cultures.The Letter, 1891 The Bath, 1891The Banjo Lesson, 1893 Maternal Caress, 1890

12Mary Cassa’s LegacyMary Cassatt inspired many women across the world to paint professionally.She was asked to paint a large mural for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.The mural showed modern women (see below). Sadly, this mural was lost after the fair ended.Cassatt continued to paint for many years in Paris.She never married, but her house was always full of family and visitors. She started to lose her eyesight in her 70s, though she remained dedicated to supporting art and artists until she died on June 14, 1926. She is buried in France and a small park in Paris is dedicated to her.

Bibliography“Art Starters: Mary Cassatt.” National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.nga.gov/learn/teachers/lessons-activities/pre-k/mary-cassatt.html.“Art-students and copyists in the Louvre gallery, Paris / drawn by Winslow Homer.” Library of Congress. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.loc.gov/item/2002695554/.Barter, Judith A., and Sue Roe. Cassatt: Mothers and Children. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2019.“Explore Inside Out: The Prints of Mary Cassatt.” Colby Museum of Art. Colby College Museum of Art. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://museum-exhibitions.colby.edu/explore-inside-out-the-prints-of-mary-cassatt/.Gruitrooy, Gerhard. Mary Cassatt: An American Impressionist. Broomall: Mason Crest, 2019.“Impressionism.” Tate Kids. Tate. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/what-is/impressionism.“The Artistic Friendship of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas.” Saint Louis Art Museum. April 20, 2017. https://www.slam.org/blog/the-artistic-friendship-of-mary-cassatt-and-edgar-degas/.All artist works featured in this booklet are in the Public Domain.Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.Illustrations by Katie Smith.ResourcesMary CassattLinda Cernak, The Child’s World 2015Mary Cassatt: Impressionist PainterLois Harris, Pelican Publishing Co. 2007Artists Through the Ages: Mary CassattAlix Wood, Windmill Books 2016