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Overcoming Obstacles in Late Nineteenth-Century France: Part II, Mary Cassatt

© Jessica Cresseveur

In June, I discussed the historical and societal conditions that prevented many women from achieving successful artistic careers (or any careers, for that matter) in late nineteenth-century France. In closing, I briefly discussed how one women Berthe Morisot managed to overcome these barriers and enjoy a successful career as an artist. This month, I am going to look at her contemporary, the American painter Mary Cassatt, who also overcame sexist barriers but in a somewhat different manner. Additionally, the subject matter of her work presented more of a challenge to Victorian society than did Morisot's. Let's begin by sketching a brief biography.

Mary Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania to a rather wealthy family that supported her artistic ambitions. At the age of 17, she began studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy. Among her coursemates were Alice Barber-Stephens and Celia Beaux. (1) As a member of the upper class, Cassatt observed first-hand the expectations of women and objected to them. In 1866, hoping to find better opportunities for women than America could offer, she relocated to Paris, (2) where she befriended many members of the Impressionist circle, most notably Edgar Degas. As a matter of choice, she would never marry nor have children.

Although her family would later join her, Cassatt was on her own upon arriving in Paris. This meant often venturing out in public without a male escort.

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Her 1878 painting Woman in Black at the Opera depicts a woman-possibly the artist-seated in an opera box, presumably by herself, leaning forward and peering through opera glasses at the spectacle on the stage. The very fact that she is doing this is revolutionary. In June, I noted the traditional dictates of men actively looking versus women passively appearing. Here, we have a woman actively looking, thus turning the traditional binary on its head. However, if we look into the background of the painting, we will notice a man with opera glasses looking not at the stage, but at the sitter. In this case, she is simultaneously occupies both active and passive roles, as we all do in reality.

To the amateur art lover, Cassatt is best known for her scenes of domesticity, usually images of mothers and children. Many art historians have concluded that, because she produced so many of these images, she must have approved of the status quo. However, as noted above, the opposite is true. In fact, Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock note interesting aspects of many of Cassatt's domestic images that actually offer a critique of the conditions of upper-class women and children of the Victorian era. Parker and Pollock use Lydia at a Tapestry Frame to back up their argument.

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