Early Life
Mary Cassatt spent most of her career in Paris and became one of the most celebrated female Impressionist artists. Born into a wealthy family, she was only 15 when she began studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. At that time, around 20% of the students were women. While many did not see themselves making a career as an artist, Cassatt was determined to do so. Frustrated with her studies, as she was not allowed to use live models, she ended them early. She moved to Paris in 1866, where she studied independently among various artists and copied the masters at the Louvre.
Move to Paris
Mary Cassatt, At the Dressing Table, soft-ground etching and aquatint, circa 1879. Sold April 2025 for $13,750.
Her first years in Paris were not as successful as she would have hoped. However, Cassatt eventually befriended Edgar Degas, who became a mentor and close friend. He invited her to exhibit among the Impressionists, which she would do four times. She was the only American officially associated with the group. Degas introduced her to printmaking in 1879, and she embraced the medium, making 220 etchings, drypoints and aquatints between the mid-1870s and early 1900s.
Mary Cassatt, Two Ladies in a Loge, Facing Left (no. 2), soft-ground etching, circa 1882.
Color Printmaking
Mary Cassatt, The Bath, color drypoint, circa 1891. Sold March 2017 for $13,750.
One of her most influential and pioneering contributions was her approach to color printmaking. In 1890, Mary Cassatt (with her friend Edgar Degas) visited the École des Beaux-Arts to view the groundbreaking exhibit of Japanese prints. While she had likely seen Japanese prints in the print shops of Paris, viewing the works together in an exhibition space allowed the two artists to fully appreciate the way in which the Japanese artists used color and form in a way distinctly different from their own practices.
At the time, Cassatt was preparing for a solo exhibition scheduled for 1891 at Durand-Ruel and decided to create a series of large color prints. Since she was not familiar with the woodcut technique, she used drypoint for line work and soft ground or aquatint for color to emulate the aesthetic of the Japanese woodcuts. She worked tirelessly on the prints, often going through an extensive proofing process. Her first color print, The Bath, went to thirteen trial proofs. In this initial attempt to work in color, she chooses a simple, single yellow tone for the dress and blue for the tub. As she gained skill, she began to layer colors and tones, as is visible in The Banjo Lesson.
After completing these ten initial prints, Cassatt continued to work with color in her graphic work. Picking Daisies in a Field was created a few years after she completed the initial ten plates and is a rare example of Cassatt’s working method during this period, in which she was creating large, colorful works. Breeskin notes that this is an unfinished work, with only two impressions known. The first of two states, it is an example of Cassatt’s working method. While we do not know why she would have abandoned this plate, it was not uncommon, as she was experimental with her printmaking, often testing the composition through several proofs and reworking plates.
Mary Cassatt, Picking Daisies in a Field, drypoint and color aquatint, circa 1893.
Subject Matter
Mary Cassatt, Gathering Fruit, drypoint, circa 1893. Sold March 2020 for $35,000.
She often chose domestic scenes with mothers and children, as well as outings to the opera, as her subject matter, which were typical of the lifestyle of an upper-class Parisian woman of the time. Many critics noted her suitability for depicting such subjects, therefore making a comment on her gender. Undaunted by the criticism, Cassatt approached these themes with a wholly ambitious perspective. The focus on private spaces, depicted with a sense of interiority combined with bold technical risks, was a modern approach to depicting a domestic scene, and it is why she remains so respected and revered.
Mary Cassatt, The Banjo Lesson, color drypoint, circa 1893. Sold November 2023 for $22,500.
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