Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt (1844 - 1926) was one of "les trois grandes dames" of Impressionism, both a masterful painter and printmaker who used pastel colors in ways that few artists had dared before her. Much like her good friend and collaborator Edgar Degas, Cassatt’s paintings depict the intimate moments of women’s daily lives, and perhaps most famously, she had a remarkable gift for capturing the beauty in the smallest moments between a mother and child. Her art encapsulates the delicate minutia of such relationships, from the tender patience of one mother bathing her toddler, to the sweet affection of another kissing her infant goodnight. With her command of color and impressionistic genius, Cassatt’s images manage to convey women’s lives both authentically and graciously, highlighting the exquisite within the seemingly mundane.