Cassatt’s People 

Mary Cassatt was an unusual Impressionist for two reasons: She was American, and she was a woman. Cassatt was born in a suburb of Pittsburgh in 1844. As a young girl, Mary and her wealthy family spent several years on an extended vacation in France and Germany. The trip exposed her to art and culture. When she was 15, she declared her goal to become a professional artist. 

Cassatt was determined to return to France to pursue her art, but her father said no way. It was unheard of for a woman to be an artist, let alone move to a foreign country on her own. Defying her dad, Cassatt took off for Paris.

It was a good move. Her art was accepted into the official Salon exhibit of 1866. But Cassatt wasn’t happy. She hated the rules and exclusiveness of the Salon. Never afraid to speak her mind, she criticized the Academy. The Academy used its influence to limit her success. However, she caught the attention of the rebellious Impressionist artists—they invited her to join the Impressionist exhibit of 1877. 

In Cassatt’s Self-Portrait (above), the artist depicts herself sketching at her easel, looking like a confident woman and a professional artist. The background is painted in yellow and blue, two of the primary colors. Her fashionable jacket is painted in darker blue and yellow, so they appear as the secondary color green. The artist uses bold, sketchy brushstrokes to convey her rapid gestures.

Cassatt had a close relationship with her sister Lydia. Lydia even moved to Paris to support her sister. But Lydia was often sick and in 1882 she died. It was a devastating loss for Cassatt.

Cassatt painted many portraits of her beloved sister. In the one above, she depicts Lydia sitting on a park bench. Her coat is a patchwork of color, the visible brushstrokes painted in different directions. Cassat doesn’t include much detail in the coat, Lydia’s hands, or even in the green trees in the background. She gives only the suggestion of these things and counts on the viewer to form a complete image of them in his or her mind. 

In 1890, Paris hosted an exhibit of Japanese woodblock prints, which impressed Cassatt. The influence of this Japanese art can be seen in The Boating Party (at the top of this page). She paints one of her favorite subjects—a mother and child—using a number of Japanese techniques.

The horizon line is at the top of the composition and far in the distance. Cassatt paints clearly contoured forms with hard edges and flattened space. The artist’s perspective is from a high angle, with tight cropping, so it seems as if Cassatt stood behind the man rowing to capture the scene.  She also uses repetition to create a unified composition. The curves of the sail echo the white and yellow-green edges of the boat and its seat. Cool blues and greens surround the warm pink of the composition’s focal point—the child.