FAMOUS ARTISTS BIRTHDAY - MARY CASSATT - AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST

MARY CASSATT

Mary Cassatt was born May 22, 1844 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She had French ancestry, so after studying at the Pennsylvania Academy, she moved to France and studied with the Parisian masters. In 1868 her work was accepted at the Salon in Paris under her pseudonym Mary Stevenson.

Mary Cassatt was a rare female artist and gave a feminine view on the subject of motherhood and family. Most young women were schooled in drawing and water colours, but gave it up when they married to manage the household. Marys parents objected to her becoming both an artist and "bohemian" but she ignored their wishes.

On the outbreak of the Franco/Prussian war, she was forced to return to her parents home, but her father refused to pay for anything related to her art. She tried to sell her paintings in New York and Chicago where most of her work was destroyed in a fire. She earned the money to return to France with a commission from the Archbishop of Pennsylvania. She was accepted in the Paris Salon of 1872, 1873 and 1874.

Mary Cassat admired Degas and eventually they became friends. He introduced her to the Impressionists and she exhibited with them In 1879, 1880, 1881, 1886. The break in 1881 was caused by having to return home and set aside her art to care for her mother and sister. She later developed a style that was influenced by the popular Japanese prints of the day.

In 1912 her eyesight began to fail and she turned her attention to encouraging young female artists. She died at Chateau Beaufresne, Beauvais, France 19 June 1926.

For more art by Mary Cassatt click here.
For the wiki biography click here.

I suspect that the work in my catalogue most like Mary Cassat is the one below.  It is a small painting with great charm. The original is now sold and available in print.

BLOWING IN THE WIND by Sea Dean - 4" x 8" matted