Mary Cassatt at Work

Hardcover

304 pages, 8 1/2 x 11 1/3 in.

242 color + 15 b/w illus.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2024

ISBN 9780876333044

In her sensitive depictions of the social, intellectual, and professional lives of modern women, Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926) often emphasized the work involved in the undervalued sphere of feminized activity. From her renowned portrayals of women and children that foreground the labor of caregiving—whether performed by hired help or mothers—to her representations of the myriad activities of bourgeois femininity in scenes of embroidering, theatergoing, and reading, her subjects are deeply engaged, and often engrossed, in what they are doing.

Highlighting Cassatt’s attention to women’s roles in the making of modern life, this study connects her recurring subjects and rigorous techniques to her own understanding of her status as a professional artist. Rather than inspiration, genius, or sentiment, it was intense effort that Cassatt most identified with, which resulted in an ever-evolving style that left the labors of art-making visible. Mary Cassatt at Work brings together more than 130 paintings, pastels, drawings, and prints to reveal what the artist referred to as her “hard work” and “effort upon effort.” Drawing on previously unpublished letters, Cassatt family correspondence, and groundbreaking insights from technical examination of her works, Cassatt’s carefully constructed professional identity is placed within the wider social context of Parisian modernity.