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Mary Cassatt, Genteel Powerhouse |
| Section: THE ARTS / ART |
| Author: Stephen May |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 3/1/1999 |
| Size: 2,343 Words, 15,657 Characters |
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"Mary Cassatt ... fits into the present world without seeming out of date. There is an inner conviction about her work which asserts itself over and above any specific limitations of time and place. ... [She] is by all odds the best woman painter America has ever produced."
----art curator Frederick Sweet, 1954
A woman of paradox, breeding, daring, artistic genius, and fierce independence, Mary Cassatt practically willed herself to become the greatest American woman artist. Her single-minded devotion to her craft and her significant achievements elevated the position of female artists to a level unimaginable before.
Born into an affluent, traditional American family, Cassatt (1844--1926) was a genteel rebel--choosing a career as a full-time artist, traveling and living abroad, and participating in the artistic life of fin-de-siecle Paris. While studying the techniques of painters whose work she admired, she developed a magnificent artist's eye and a hard-nosed businesswoman's acumen.
As an expatriate who retained her identity as an American, she yearned for recognition in her homeland and became an important tastemaker for collectors in the United States. Cassatt was the only American--and one of only three women--to exhibit with the Impressionists in France. She became close friends with several in the group, especially Edgar Degas, but established her own course after it disbanded.
Known in her lifetime--and to this day--as a painter of mothers and children, Cassatt approached this, her favo...
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...ity with which she pursued her goals, and as the current exhibition documents, she is appreciated for the breadth, quality, and enduring appeal of the beautiful body of work she bequeathed to posterity. As art hostorian Adelyn Breeskin once observed, "In the ensuing generations many women painters have come to the fore, especially in America, but so far none has surpassed Mary Cassatt."
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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