two semesters ago, i signed up for a seminar on u.s. american art, and little did i know that it would relight my spark for art history. we talked about artists (painters, sculpters, photographers) familiar to probably everyone (warhol, hopper, whistler, and so on), but also learned about artist whose names i had never heard before. one of those artists was mary cassatt.
mary cassatt was an american impressionist who spent most of her adult life in france, where she worked alongside and hung out with degas and pissarro. (i’m a little taken aback by myself – i used to think of impressionism as the most boring of all art movements. now i am literally shaking my head in disbelief at how wrong i was!) even though the fine arts were a male domain (here’s an interesting article on women artists in 19th century france) back then, mary cassatt became one of the core members of the impressionist group. the paintings by her that i like most are those of women reading. common subjects, very intimately depicted. while reading. now turn off your computer and go grab a book. ♥
[artwork via wikipaintings]
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