Cassatt << kuh SAT >>, Mary (1844-1926), was an American painter who spent much of her career in France. She was a member of the French Impressionist movement of the late 1800’s. Like her French Impressionist friends, Cassatt used light, bright colors and sketchy brushstrokes to create the effect of what the eye sees at a glance.
Cassatt painted scenes of people engaged in ordinary daily activities. She became particularly well known for her paintings of peaceful, loving moments shared by mothers and their young children. Cassatt also painted scenes showing women drinking tea, quietly reading, or writing letters. See Impressionism.
Cassatt was born on May 25, 1844, in Allegheny City (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts during the early 1860’s. She settled in France in 1866 and lived there the rest of her life. Cassatt began painting in the Impressionist style in the late 1870’s and first exhibited with the group in 1879. Cassatt’s closest friend among the Impressionist painters was Edgar Degas, who strongly influenced her style. Like Degas, Cassatt often arranged her compositions asymmetrically, in order to make them seem lifelike and informal (see Degas, Edgar).
In the 1890’s, Cassatt created a series of beautiful prints. In their strong outlines and flattened, simplified shapes, these prints show the influence of woodcuts by Japanese artists. In addition to her importance as a painter, Cassatt played a major role in advising American collectors to buy Impressionist art. She died on June 14, 1926.
