MARY CASSATT BETWEEN PARIS AND NEW YORK

The forces that shaped an eminent artist.

Art historian Iskin offers a close, perceptive examination of the life and work of Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) in the context of American and European art, culture, and political change, particularly the women’s suffrage movement. Although Pittsburgh-born, Cassatt returned to the U.S. only three times after she settled in Paris in 1874; she considered herself culturally an American, while as an artist she identified with French Impressionists. Except for Degas—a beloved friend and “like-minded colleague”—her closest friends were well-educated upper-class Americans, including banker James J. Stillman, art curator Sara T. Hallowell, and architect Theodate Pope. These and others visited her often at her country chateau and the Paris apartment that, for many years, she shared with her mother and sister. Her “longest, and most important friendship” was with Louisine Havemeyer, a noted collector whose acquisitions were advised by Cassatt. They met in Paris when Cassatt was 30 and Louisine 19, and their friendship, characterized by “emotional, intellectual, and cognitive intimacy” continued into Cassatt’s old age. Although Cassatt came to deride Louisine’s consuming involvement in the suffrage campaign, she was a sympathetic supporter. Iskin sees the impact of feminism in her depictions of women, both within and beyond the nuclear family, which echoed prevalent discourse that emphasized “the value of women’s role within the home, as a way of buttressing the argument for their access to the public sphere and in particular to equal political rights.” In April 1915, Cassatt, Degas, and a selection of old masters were featured in a prominent New York exhibition to raise funds for women’s suffrage. Iskin explores Cassatt’s posthumous reputation as well, reflecting on assumptions about nationhood and gender that continue to redefine her legacy.

An authoritative, beautifully illustrated study.