Artist Article: Artists Who Inspired Me : Famous Artist | Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt, American Painter (1824 – 1926)
Artist’s History
Unfortunately, I did not realize how truly incredible the work of Mary Cassatt was; until I began doing oil paintings in my late 20’s. It was at that time when I saw some beautiful examples of her paintings in books and ones I was privileged to see at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. When I was young, I was extremely fortunate to have been able to participate in the art classes that they offered for children at the museum… and there were many opportunities during that time that I was able to view the paintings on display in the museum galleries.
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was born in 1824 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, (originally part of Pittsburgh); one of seven children, she was born into a privileged family. Her father, Robert Simpson Cassatt, obtained his wealth by being a successful stockbroker and also speculating on land; and her mother, Katherine Kelso Johnston, whose family was in banking. Cassatt was a distant cousin of artist Robert Henri, which suggests that she may have had a predisposition to becoming an artist.
Later, Cassatt’s family moved east to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, then to the Philadelphia area; where at age 6 her schooling began.
Cassatt’s upbringing was in an environment of those who believed that travel was an integral part of having a well-rounded education. After spending 5 years in Europe and visited many of the capitals, including London, Paris, and Berlin. While abroad, she mastered the languages of German and French and had her first lessons in drawing and music. Her first exposure to the work of French artists was in 1855, was most likely during a visit to Paris’ World’s Fair; where she saw paintings done by Ingres, Delacroix, Corot, and Courbet. However, the most influential to her; were ones which were exhibited there by Degas and Pissarro, both of these artists would later become colleagues and mentors to her. Viewing Degas’ work for the first time, when she encountered them in an art dealer’s window in 1875; had a major impact on Cassatt. She later commented “I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art”…. “It changed my life. I saw art then as I wanted to see it”
Despite her family’s lack of support for her becoming a professional artist, Cassatt began to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where her major focus was on painting. At the age of 15, because she was so young; her parents’ may have been worried about Cassatt’s exposure to feminist ideas and the less than desirable behavior of the male students she was exposed to by attending. Although about 20 percent of the students were female, most of them believed that producing art was only a socially valuable skill; not as a career which Cassatt was determined to have. During the American Civil War, she continued to study at the academy; with other students such as Thomas Eakins… later, the director of the Academy.
Despite the fact that at that point she still had not completed her degree, Cassatt decided to end her studies; deciding instead to study the old masters on her own. She had become impatient with the slow pace of instruction, the attitudes of the male students and teachers; (which she felt were patronizing), as well as the fact that female students were at that time not allowed to use live models, in fact the principal training for them was limited to drawing from casts. She was later quoted as saying, “There was no teaching at the Academy”…
Finally, in 1866; Cassatt was able to convince her father to let her move to Paris, with her mother and family friends accompanying her as chaperons At this time women were not allowed to attend the famous art institution there; École des Beaux-Arts, (originally founded as ‘Académie des Beaux-Arts’ in 1648); and instead she was accepted and studied with masters who were teachers at the school who offered to teach her privately; one of whom was Jean-Léon Gérôme. Gérôme was considered to be highly respected, an artist well known for his hyper-realistic technique and his depiction of exotic subjects. Shortly afterwards, Thomas Eakins, one of the students she studied with; back at the ‘Academy’ in Philadelphia, was also accepted by Gérôme as a student.was also accepted by Gérôme as a student.
Cassatt obtained the necessary permit that was required, in order to become a “copyist” at the Louvre Museum. This was a policy created by the museum which was employed to control the movements of “copyists”, who were usually women paid to copy paintings for sale at low wages. By copying the paintings in the Louvre in this manner; Cassatt augmented the education and training that she was receiving. The museum also served as a meeting place for Frenchmen and American female students to socialize who were considered ‘old school’ because they executed their art in the traditional style. At that time they were not allowed to attend the cafes, where artists gathered who were considered unconventional & modern.
Near the end of her first year in Paris, Cassatt participated in a class taught by renowned artist Charles Chaplin, also studying 1868, with Thomas Couture, an artist whose subjects were considered romantic and focused on city life. On trips to the French countryside, students learned to draw live subjects, mostly landscapes depicting peasants carrying on the routines of their daily lives.
In 1868, the first time one of her paintings was accepted by selection jury for entrance into the Paris Salon; was entitled “Mandoline Player”. It is one of only two examples of her work which can be documented as being of the first decade of her career, and is rendered in the Romantic style of well-known artists Corot and Couture.
In the early 1870’s, the art scene in France was experiencing a major process of change; and Impressionist artists, such as Courbet and Manet; were considered to be radical artists who were attempting to depart from acceptable Academic traditions. Cassatt, rejected this idea and continued to paint in the traditional manner, however; she began to experience increasing frustration, having submitted works of that ilk to the Salon for over ten years. One of Cassatt’s friends Eliza Haldeman, who was with her in Paris, wrote that “many artists are leaving the Academy style and each seeking a new way, consequently just now everything is Chaos”.
During the late summer of 1870, as the Franco-Prussian War was beginning, Cassatt returned home to the United States to live with her family in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Still resisting her chosen vocation, her father would only agree to pay her basic expenses, refusing to fund any of her art supplies. At this time she submitted and had two of her paintings in a gallery in New York, but she found that even though many people admired her work, she was unable to sell any of her paintings.
Since she was determined as ever to make her living as an artist, and not be dependent on her family; Cassatt took a serious look at her situation, and found that due to the fact that her work was not selling; combined with her disappointed with the lack of viable paintings around for her to study in order to help further develop her career… she actually considered the possibility of giving up art. In July of 1871, she wrote: “I have given up my studio & torn up my father’s portrait, & have not touched a brush for six weeks nor ever will again until I see some prospect of getting back to Europe. I am very anxious to go out west next fall & get some employment, but I have not yet decided where.”
Unfortunately, in 1871 when she took an opportunity to explore the chance of selling her paintings in Chicago, some of her early works were lost forever in the Great Chicago Fire. Shortly after that, her work attracted the attention of the Archbishop of Pittsburgh, and he commissioned her to paint two copies of paintings by Correggio in Parma, Italy. With Emily Sartain, a fellow artist from a well-regarded artistic family from Philadelphia, Cassatt set out for Europe again, having her travel paid for and some of her living expenses covered by the money advanced to her. In her excitement she wrote, “O how wild I am to get to work, my fingers fairly itch & my eyes water to see a fine picture again”.
Artist’s Later Life: Impressionism
Shortly after returning to Europe in 1871, Cassatt’s success began take hold, starting with one of the paintings that she submitted to the Paris Salon was accepted and then was purchased in 1872. She attracted much favorable notice in Parma, a region in Italy where her work was well received by the art community.
After finishing the commissions she had done for the archbishop of Pittsburgh, Cassatt decided to venture to Madrid and Seville, Spain; where she did several paintings, one of which she titled: “Spanish Dancer Wearing a Lace Mantilla” (1873), presently on exhibit at the National Museum of American Art,of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.). In 1874, after becoming a resident of France, Cassatt continued to express her objection to the politics that were prevalent at the Salon, especially with regards to works submitted by female artists; which often were excluded from being accepted unless they knew someone on the jury; or resorted to flirtatious behavior with jurors. Cassatt refused to engage in this type of political maneuver, and she was outspoken & blunt with the comments she made regarding it. She also criticized the work of other revered artists who at the time were rendering examples of ‘modern art’.
In 1875, Cassatt became completely disenchanted with the politics that continued to occur at the Salon, especially when one of the two pictures she submitted there was accepted after being rejected by the jury one year earlier; just,by darkening the background. She argued with her friend and female artist Sartain, about these issues, and eventually this led to the end of their association.
Due to the distress about this, and the self-criticism that developed, Cassatt decided that she needed to distance herself from the type of paintings of her chosen genre, and instead to take on different subjects of a more popular nature. She decided to offer her artistic talents in ways contrary to her intrinsic style of painting: to appeal to a number of American socialites who had ventured abroad & were looking to commission artists in Europe to do their portrait; however, this did not succeed to deliver many results for her in the beginning.
In 1877, both of her entries that she placed into the Salon were rejected, and for the first time in seven years; none of her paintings were represented there. During a low point in her career, French artist Edgar Degas invited her to show her work with a group that had started their own series of independent exhibitions,who called themselves the Impressionists; (also known as the “Independents” or…”Intransigents”). The Impressionists had no cohesive formal declaration as to what their movement’s philosophy & policy was; and their work varied considerably in it’s diverse types of subjects and techniques.
The artists in the Impressionist movement preferred to paint outside in the open air, employing very different techniques. By using vibrant colors by utilizing less pre-mixing of the pigments & applying the paint using separate strokes, this technique allowed the eye to combine the whole image into an “impressionistic” fashion. The Impressionists had been shunned by the critics for many years. Henry Bacon, a friend of Cassatt’s own family remarked that their style of the Impressionists was so radical that they were “afflicted with some hitherto unknown disease of the eye”.
She accepted Degas’ invitation, and began preparing paintings for their next Impressionist show, planned for 1878, which was postponed due to the World’s Fair being held that same year. It eventually took place on April 10, 1879, however; conspicuously absent, were noted artists Renoir, Sisley, Manet and Cézanne, who again were focused on trying to obtain recognition of their work at the Salon.
At the time when Cassatt joined, there was only one female member in the Impressionist movement, an artist named Berthe Morisot and they became friends and colleagues. She joined their cause with fervor, declaring: “We are carrying on a despairing fight & need all our forces”. Not able to attend the cafes with them without attracting unfavorable attention, she met with them privately and at exhibitions.
Cassatt’s focus on her career had changed & she opted for commercial success, selling paintings to sophisticated Parisians who wanted to purchase the avant-garde. Her paintings reflected her new style and subject matter, which was very different from the work she had done as a studio-bound artist, She executed paintings of the places she saw while outside… often carring a sketchbook to render quick sketches.