Mary Cassatt: A Life

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23324

One of the few women Impressionists, Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) had a life of paradoxes: American born, she lived and worked in France; a classically trained artist, she preferred the company of radicals; never married, she painted exquisite and beloved portraits of mothers and children. This book provides fascinating new insight into the personal life and artistic endeavors of this extraordinary woman.

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date September 1998 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300077544

EISBN 9780300273359

Illustrations 133

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Advertisement for Irwin, Cassat & Co.
Hardwicke
Robert Cassatt and His Children
Alexander J. Cassatt
House at the southeast corner of High and Miner Streets, West Chester, Pennsylvania
Mary Cassatt
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Eliza Haldeman
Eliza Haldeman, Inez Lewis, Edmund Smith, Rebecca M. Welsh (?), and Mary Cassatt
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts students making a flag
Portrait of Robert S. Cassatt
Elizabeth Gardner
Death of Caesar
Thomas Eakins
Art-Students and Copyists in the Louvre Gallery, Paris
Mary Cassatt
Eliza Haldeman
Devotion
Painting class of Charles Chaplin, detail
Preparing Dinner
The Mandolin Player
The Shepherd David
Palais de l'Industrie, Champs-Élysées
Palais de l'Industrie: Salon of 1868
Soap Bubbles
Thomas Couture
Beaufort-sur-Doron
Alexander Cassatt
Lois Buchanan Cassatt on her wedding day
John Sartain, Samuel Sartain, William Sartain and Emily Sartain
Mary Cassatt
Two Women Throwing Flowers During Carnival
Spanish Dancer Wearing a Lace Mantilla
Offering the Panal to the Toreador
Katherine Kelso Cassatt
Ida
Portrait of the Artist
Lydia Seated at a Tapestry Frame
Mary Ellison Embroidering
The Elder sisters
Portrait of May Alcott
A Session of the Salon Jury (Une Séance du jury de peinture)
Portrait of Edouard Manet
The Balcony
Berthe Morisot
Young Woman in Ball Gown
Auguste Renoir
Portrait of the Artist
Edgar Degas
Women on a Café Terrace, Evening
Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Montmartre
Little Girl in a Blue Armchair
Reading Le Figaro
Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge
Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery
Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge
Portrait of George Moore
In the Opera Box (No. 3)
Two Young Women in a Loge
Portrait of Mary Cassatt
Cup of Tea
Children of Alexander and Lois Cassatt
Lois B. Cassatt
Alexander J. Cassatt
Katherine Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren (La Lecture)
Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly
The Cup of Tea
Lady at the Tea Table
Elsie in a Blue Chair
Portrait of J. M. Whistler with Monocle
Arrangement in Black, No. 8: Mrs. A. J. Cassatt
Portrait of Alexander J. Cassatt and His Son, Robert Kelso Cassatt
Children Playing on the Beach
Paul Durand-Ruel
Edward Buchanan Cassatt
Mrs. Alexander J. Cassatt Seated at a Tapestry Frame
Portrait of Alexander J. Cassatt
Gardner held by his mother
Mr. Gardner Cassatt reading the paper
Hélène of Septeuil
Baby's back
Woman with a Red Zinnia
The Havemeyer family
The Drawing Lesson
The Letter
Camille Pissarro
View of the Château de Bachivillers
Hall of Honor, Woman's Building, World Columbian Exposition
Modern Woman
Primitive Woman
Modern Woman, detail of central panel
Young Women Picking Fruit
Portrait of Margaret Milligan Sloane (No. 2)
View of the Villa Cigaronne, Cap d'Antibes
The Boating Party
The Château de Beaufresne
The Château de Beaufresne, back view
Sketch of Vernon Lee
Young Thomas and his Mother
The Château de Beaufresne, view of the pond
Feeding the Ducks
Portrait of Mrs. Havemeyer and Her Daughter Electra
Ellen Mary in a White Coat
Pattycake (Mother and Child)
Mathilde Valet
Jennie C. Cassatt at Kelso
Portrait of Mrs. Cyrus J. Lawrence with her Grandson R. Lawrence Oakley
Portrait of Master Hammond
Theodate Pope
Mary Cassatt
J. Gardner Cassatt
The Caress
Breakfast in Bed
Mary Cassatt at Beaufresne
Mary Cassatt at Beaufresne
Edgar Degas in Albert Bartholomé's garden
Portrait of Alexander Cassatt
Electra and Louisine Havemeyer in mourning
Ambroise Vollard
Children Playing with a Cat
Mary Cassatt with the family of Gardner Cassatt at Versailles
Mary Cassatt asleep on the Cassatts' dahabeah, Egypt
Mary Cassatt on a camel, Egypt
James Stillman in the later years of his life
Mary Cassatt, Grasse
View of Villa Angeletto, Grasse
Auguste Renoir in his studio
Mother and Child
Mary Cassatt at Villa Angeletto, Grasse
Louisine Havemeyer passing the torch of liberty to the New Jersey contigent
Installation photograph of the Loan Exhibition of Masterpieces by Old and Modern Painters at the Knoedler Gallery
Girl Arranging Her Hair
Mary Cassatt at Beaufresne

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Contents

Contents

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23325

Free

Preface

Author

Chapter 1. Background and Early Education (1844–1865)

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23326

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Even though Mary Cassatt left her homeland for Paris, even though she chose to spend her days in the bohemian world of painters and models, dealers and collectors, there remained in her the sturdy thread of her ancestry...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.3-28

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.1

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23327

Chapter subject tags:Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsWomen artists--United States--19th centuryPainting, American--19th centuryArt--Study and teaching--United States--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926

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Chapter 2. Studies in Europe (1866–1870)

~Mary Cassatt and her mother arrived in Paris for the Christmas season late in 1865. The parties and balls in Philadelphia in December and January would have been enjoyable, but the season in Paris was brilliant. For Americans, much of the entertainment revolved around parties and dinners held by the American consul and special services at the American Chapel....

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.29-61

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.2

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23328

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesWomen artists--United States--19th centuryExpatriate artists--FrancePainting, American--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926

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Chapter 3. Becoming Professional (1870–1874)

~Mary Cassatt’s reentry into her homeland in 1870 was not particularly smooth. She was sincerely happy to rejoin the family she had left behind, and she could certainly revel in the professional recognition her work had brought her. Nevertheless the changes she encountered at home combined with the changes in her own expectations and attitudes since she left in...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesArtists--family relationshipsSalons--France--History--19th centuryWomen artists--United States--19th centuryPainting, American--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.62-92

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23329

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Chapter 4. Changing Direction (1875–1878)

~Cassatt’s decision to take up residence in Paris in 1874 put an end to the romantic, nomadic life she had led for almost eight years (figure 37). At age thirty, she may have been unconsciously ready for a more...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesWomen artists--United States--BiographySalons--France--History--19th centuryWomen artists--United States--19th centuryExpatriate artists--FranceCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.93-132

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.4

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23330

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Chapter 5. Impressionism (1879–1886)

~Mary Cassatt made her real debut at the age of thirty-four when the Impressionist exhibition opened on April 10, 1879. While we know little about what kind of “openings” the Impressionists held, it was common at that time to have a reception of some sort for which invitations were sent to friends, family, and VIPs to see the exhibition before it was open to...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesImpressionism (Art)--France--ExhibitionsTheater--France--ParisWomen artists--United States--19th centuryPainting, American--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926Expatriate artists--France

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.133-177

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.5

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23331

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Chapter 6. Her Prime (1886–1893)

After having lived in Paris for over ten years and in Europe for twenty, Mary Cassatt no longer felt like a foreigner. Paris had opened up to her more completely than she had ever imagined it would...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesImpressionism (Art)--France--ExhibitionsDurand-Ruel, Paul, 1831-1922Artists--family relationshipsCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926Painting, American--19th centuryWomen artists--United States--19th century

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.178-217

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23332

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Chapter 7. American Connections (1894–1899)

When retrospective exhibition closed in December of 1893, Mary Cassatt instinctively closed a chapter in her life...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesWomen artists--United States--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926Painting, American--19th centuryExpatriate artists--FranceHavemeyer, Louisine Waldron ElderWomen art collectors--United States--19th century

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.218-251

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.7

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23333

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Chapter 8. “The Most Eminent of Living American Women Painters” (1900–1910)

~Mary Cassatt was fifty-five years old when the new century began (figure 110). Hers was the generation fortunate enough to be in charge when assessments were being made of the outgoing century and plans were being made for the new one. She was also unlucky enough to see the power of her own generation decline rapidly—within...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesHavemeyer, Henry Osborne, 1847-1907Women artists--United States--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926Painting, American--19th centuryExpatriate artists--FranceHavemeyer, Louisine Waldron ElderArt--Collectors and collecting--History--19th century

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.252-286

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.8

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23334

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Chapter 9. Hard Times (1911–1926)

Toward the end of 1910 Cassatt decided to take an extensive trip with her brother Gardner’s family through Europe to Constantinople and then down the Nile in Egypt...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.287-320

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.9

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23335

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesWomen artists--United States--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926Painting, American--19th century

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Chapter 10. The Historical Cassatt

When Mary Cassatt died, she turned over her reputation and her art to the forces of history. In the almost seventy years since, all those who knew her well have also died, leaving only written words and, of course, her art...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.321-333

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00343.10

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23336

Chapter subject tags:Impressionism (Art)--United StatesWomen artists--United States--19th centuryCassatt, Mary, 1844-1926Art--Collectors and collecting--History--19th century

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.