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Reclaiming Mary Cassatt: putting overlooked American artist back at heart of impressionism
A new exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris seeks to restore Mary Cassatt’s place as a leading member of the Impressionists, whose work helped revolutionise 19th-century art. Although she worked closely with Edgar Degas and exhibited alongside major French artists, Cassatt has often been overlooked in France, where she produced much of her best work.
The exhibition brings together 80 paintings, pastels and prints, including works from private collections and unpublished letters, and will travel to London early next year. Cassatt, an American who lived in France for 32 years, became known for depicting women’s lives and mothers with children, and advocated for women’s rights. Her monumental mural Modern Woman, made for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, has disappeared; the exhibition includes a digital representation.
In short
- A Paris exhibition aims to restore Cassatt’s place in Impressionism.
- It features 80 works and previously unpublished letters.
- Cassatt’s lost World’s Fair mural is represented digitally.
Explained simply
Mary Cassatt was an American artist who spent much of her career in France and became part of the Impressionist movement. The Impressionists included artists such as Edgar Degas, who shared ideas about how to portray modern life and movement.
Cassatt often painted women and children, including scenes of everyday family life. She also supported women’s rights, at a time when women had fewer opportunities to train and exhibit as artists.
Impressionism is often associated with a group of well-known French men, and Cassatt’s contribution has received less attention in France. Her work also included a large mural for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, which no longer survives.
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