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Today we're going to learn about the famous artist, Mary Cassatt.
Mary Cassatt was an American Impressionist painter.
She was born May 22, 1844 in Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.
She was the daughter of a stockbroker and a highly educated mother, one of seven children,
two of whom died in infancy.
Her family believed that traveling was important for a good education, and so she spent five
years in Europe, visiting London, Paris, and Berlin.
She learned to speak German and French and had her first lessons in drawing and music.
Mary was determined to become independent and support herself, and she decided to study art.
Her family, especially her father, did not want her to become a professional artist,
but she began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia at the
age of 16.
She continued studying art there until the end of the American Civil War, when she decided
to leave.
She did not feel that she was learning enough at the Academy.
The teachers did not feel it was important to teach a woman how to paint, and she did
not have all the resources that the other students did, and so Mary Cassatt moved to
Paris with her mother in 1866, at the age of 22.
Women were not allowed to study at the art school there, and so she took private lessons
with some of the art teachers.
She practiced by copying paintings in the Louvre, a very famous museum filled with many
pieces of the greatest art in history.
Before long, she began to have success exhibiting her art, but in 1870 she returned home to
America because a war was beginning in France.
During her time in America she could not find paintings to study or anyone to buy her art.
She thought if she could not get back to Europe she would have to give up painting.
Fortunately, the war ended in 1871 and she was able to return to Europe.
She traveled to Italy and Spain before returning to Paris, France, where she opened a studio.
Once back in France Mary began to do better finding an audience for her art, but after
a few years she began to be frustrated with the way other artists refused to try new things.
Fellow artist Edgar Degas invited her to join the Impressionists, which she happily did.
Instead of trying to paint a careful and realistic picture of something, Impressionists wanted
to use light and color to give an impression of a moment in time.
With Degas and the other Impressionists, Mary experimented with her art and began to do well.
As she grew older and became more successful, Mary Cassatt moved away from the Impressionist
style of doing things and explored art on her own.
She became well respected, considered by some to be 'an American treasure.'
France awarded her the Legion of Honor in 1904 for her contributions to art.
Mary Cassatt never married or had children, but many of her most famous works of art show
the relationship between mothers and children.
Near the end of her life, Mary Cassatt became nearly blind and could no longer paint.
She died on June 14, 1926 and was buried in France.
Today Mary Cassatt is remembered mostly for her paintings of mothers and families, but
she is also responsible for many great pieces of art coming to American museums.
She wanted young American artists to be able to study great paintings without traveling
to Europe.
She also supported women's rights and inspired many women who wanted to become artists.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the famous artist Mary Cassatt, and seeing some of her
beautiful work.