Mary Cassatt American, 1844-1926

Mary Cassatt was a leading American Impressionist painter and printmaker best known for her intimate depictions of women and children and for her central role in the development of Impressionism in France. One of the few Americans to work closely with the French Impressionists, Cassatt helped shape the movement while maintaining a distinct artistic voice grounded in observation, structure, and psychological insight.

Born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, Cassatt received early artistic training in the United States before moving to Paris, where she pursued advanced study and immersion in European art. Frustrated by the limitations placed on women artists within academic institutions, she sought alternatives outside the official Salon system. In the late 1870s, she was invited by Edgar Degas to exhibit with the Impressionists, becoming a key participant in the group’s exhibitions.

Cassatt’s work is characterized by clear composition, flattened space, and a refined use of color and line. While she adopted the Impressionists’ interest in modern life and unconventional viewpoints, she favored indoor, private settings over urban spectacle. Her subjects—women reading, bathing, caring for children—are rendered with dignity and attentiveness, avoiding sentimentality while emphasizing emotional connection and mutual gaze.

In addition to painting, Cassatt was an accomplished printmaker. Her color etchings and aquatints of the 1890s, influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, represent some of the most innovative graphic work of the period. These prints demonstrate her mastery of line and pattern and her ability to translate Impressionist concerns into graphic form.

Cassatt played an important advisory role to American collectors, encouraging the acquisition of Impressionist works and helping to shape major U.S. museum collections. Through this activity, she had a lasting impact on the reception of modern French art in the United States, extending her influence beyond her own studio practice.

Today, her work is held in major museum collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Musée d’Orsay.