Mary Cassatt
Cassatt was the only American[7] in the Impressionist group. Degas invited her. He had seen her work at the Salon and told her that here was someone who felt as he did. She joined the Impressionists for their fourth exhibition in 1879[7] and showed with them regularly after that.
Biography
She grew up in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), in a prosperous family. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she found the instruction restrictive and the male students hostile. She moved to Paris in 1866[7], copied old masters in the Louvre, and studied privately with several painters before finding her direction with the Impressionists.
Her subject was women and children in domestic settings: mothers bathing infants, women reading, girls at the opera, women having tea. The subject matter sounds conventional. The treatment is not. She observed her subjects with the same unsentimental attention Degas brought to dancers. The compositions are cropped and angled, influenced by Japanese prints and by Degas's habit of painting people from unexpected viewpoints. Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878[7]) shows a child sprawled across a chair with the boredom and physical abandon that adults rarely notice and painters rarely record.
She never married. She was wealthy enough not to need to sell her work. She used her position and her connections to persuade American[7] collectors, particularly the Havemeyers, to buy Impressionist paintings. The Havemeyer collection, much of it acquired on Cassatt's advice, was donated to the Metropolitan Museum. She shaped the taste of American collectors more than any other single individual.
She developed cataracts and was nearly blind by 1914[7]. She stopped painting. She died in 1926[7], at eighty-two.
Timeline
- 1844Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, to an upper-middle-class family. Her father was a stockbroker.
- 1866At 22, moved to Paris over her father's objections, studying privately under Jean-Leon Gerome.
- 1879At 35, exhibited with the Impressionists for the first time in Paris, the only American artist officially associated with the group.
- 1891At 47, created her celebrated series of colour drypoint and aquatint prints, inspired by Japanese woodblock prints.
- 1926Died aged 82 at Chateau de Beaufresne near Paris, having spent her final years championing women's suffrage.
Notable Works
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Where to See Mary Cassatt
28 museums worldwide.
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357 worksNational Gallery of Art
Washington D.C., United States
Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 11:00–18:00 · Free
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34 worksMetropolitan Museum of Art
New York City, United States
Sun–Tue, Thu 10:00–17:00; Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00; closed Wed · Adults $30, students $17 (pay-what-you-wish for NY residents)
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12 works
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Boston, United States
Sun-Mon 10:00-17:00, Tue closed, Wed 10:00-17:00, Thu-Fri 10:00-22:00, Sat 10:00-17:00
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9 worksPhiladelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, United States
Mon 10:00-17:00, Tue-Wed closed, Thu 10:00-17:00, Fri 10:00-20:45, Sat-Sun 10:00-17:00
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4 works
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne, United States
Daily 10:00–17:00 (May 9 through October 25, 2026) · $27.50 adults
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See all Mary Cassatt prints →Frequently Asked Questions
Did mary cassatt have children?
The passages provided do not state whether Mary Cassatt had children.Did mary cassatt marry?
Mary Cassatt never married.How did mary cassatt die?
Mary Cassatt died in 1926[7] at the age of 82.How did mary cassatt impact the world?
Mary Cassatt's realism reflected the social concerns developing within the women's movement of her time.Is mary cassatt french?
Mary Cassatt was an American[7] artist.Mary cassatt artistic style?
Mary Cassatt's artistic style included unusual viewpoints, cropped forms and firm outlines. Her compositions were also influenced by Edgar Degas and Japanese prints.Was mary cassatt a mother?
The passages provided do not state whether Mary Cassatt was a mother.Was mary cassatt married?
Mary Cassatt never married.What is mary cassatt best known for?
Mary Cassatt is best known for her tender images of mothers with children.When did mary cassatt start painting?
The passages provided do not state when Mary Cassatt started painting.Where can i see mary cassatt paintings?
Mary Cassatt's works can be seen at National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Prints in the National Gallery of Art, and 2 other museums worldwide.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Mary Cassatt.
- [1] museum Brooklyn Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Yoshino Gypsum Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum New Britain Museum of American Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum Hill-Stead Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum North Carolina Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] wikipedia Wikipedia: Mary Cassatt Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
- [8] book Linda Bolton, Art revolutions _ Impressionism Used for: biography.
- [9] book Linda Bolton, Art revolutions _ Impressionism Used for: biography.
- [10] book Linda Bolton, Art revolutions _ Impressionism Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-07-15. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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