Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844 –1926), one of the leading artists in the Impressionist movement of the later part of the nineteenth century, is known for her depictions of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children. After visiting a large exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in April 1890, Mary Cassatt began to experiment with different print techniques. In 1890-1891, Cassatt produced a series of ten colored drypoint and aquatint prints in open admiration of ukiyo-e prints, which became a milestone in graphic art and Impressionist printmaking. With the growing popularity of Japanese woodcuts during the 1890s, Cassatt’s relationship
According to Baxandall (1985), there is the “wrong-headed grammatical prejudice about who is the agent and who is the patient” in regard of “influence”. When one says the visual qualities of Japanese prints influenced Cassatt, it seems that one is saying, “Japanese prints” did something to Cassatt rather than Cassatt did something to “Japanese prints”. If we think of Cassatt rather than “Japanese prints” as the agent, the reaction of Cassatt to Ukiyo-e prints that she saw is not “imitation” as a passive result of the “Japanese influence”. Cassatt is actually taking a more active part. The word to replace “influence” could be “citation” instead of “imitation”. Baxandall gives a good example. Though it is widely considered Cézanne influenced Picasso, Baxandall argues the influence of Cezanne on Picasso should be seen as Picasso actively choosing to do something with the possibilities opened up by Cezanne’s art, and in the process changing our understanding of Cezanne, and of the wider history of art. Under this theory, the word “influence” blurs the differences in type of reference and takes the actively purposeful element out of Cassatt’s behavior to Japanese prints. Therefore, it is meaningless to discuss in what ways Japanese prints influenced Cassatt. Instead, we see how Cassatt took the active move on the citation of Ukiyo-e, which in turn helps to build the reputation of Japanese prints as well as
Cassatt had a powerful response to these Ukiyo-e images partly because of the identical subject matter of quotidian events of women 's daily lives. Ukiyo-e prints appealed to Cassatt also because of its linear delicacy, tonal variety, and compositional strength. Frederick A. Sweet (1966) sorts out the letters, which take in account of Cassatt’s experience with printing. In an oft-cited note to fellow painter Berthe Morisot, Cassatt expressed her excitement: "Seriously, You must not miss that. You who want to make color prints you couldn 't dream of a thing more beautiful. I dream of it and don 't think of anything else but color on copper." Cassatt had known of the prints before 1890, but the exhibition provided a new stimulus and she bought from it many examples of work by the leading Ukiyo-e masters. Cassatt then started her experiments with printing and took her own printmaking in a highly innovative direction in admiration of the Japanese
Tuele, Nicholas. British Columbia women artists, 1885-1985: an exhibition. Victoria, B.C., Canada: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1985. Print.
An influential American printmaker and painter as she was known for impressionist style in the 1880s, which reflected her ideas of the modern women and created artwork that displayed the maternal embrace between women and children; Mary Cassatt was truly the renowned artist in the 19th century. Cassatt exhibited her work regularly in Pennsylvania where she was born and raised in 1844. However, she spent most of her life in France where she was discovered by her mentor Edgar Degas who was the very person that gave her the opportunity that soon made one of the only American female Impressionist in Paris. An exhibition of Japanese woodblock Cassatt attends in Paris inspired her as she took upon creating a piece called, “Maternal Caress” (1890-91), a print of mother captured in a tender moment where she caress her child in an experimental dry-point etching by the same artist who never bared a child her entire life. Cassatt began to specialize in the portrayal of children with mother and was considered to be one of the greatest interpreters in the late 1800s.
...ised by the public. Her ability to show the affectionate body language between mother and child captivated its audiences. Mary Cassatt also experimented with print making and explored different patterns that made her work all the more lively. Her work with drypoint and aquatint are some of the most famous color prints in the art world today.
The painting can be found at the Washington’s National Art Gallery. Further, this artwork is an important piece of art created during her mature career. Cassatt depicts the young girl alone within a domestic exterior. The informal posture, as well as the evident brushwork, are attributed to impressionism while the asymmetrical structure, the hasty scene cropping, and the shallow space indicate the Japanese art inspirations. Additionally, the young girl seated in an unselfconscious and sprawling manner is a reminder to the viewer of her young age
The 19th century woodblock artist, Utamaro, has many examples of these types of prints of both courtesans and geishas. For example, an interesting series of Utamaro’s prints include his “Five Kinds of Ink from the Northern Provinces” created in 1790. These prints include different ranks of women working as courtesans and range from depicting upper class to lower class courtesans. The images of the higher-ranking courtesans are shown in a position of education, depicted as beautiful, classy women, and are representative of a type of courtesan you would prefer to purchase as a client. Where as the prints of the lower class courtesans are less glamorous and instead presented in a way for people to view the not attractive lifestyles of these women. Utamaro may have had a sense of empathy for these lower-class women and may of represented them in this way because he wanted to educate people about these women’s lives or to educate clients on what type of courtesan they were purchasing. Additionally Utamaro created many prints of different ranking geishas and created scenes capturing the daily lives of all these kinds of different girls. His work, portrays these women in an idealized forms; they were tall, slender, elegant women, with dark, beautiful hair, dark, raised eyebrows, rounded faces, white skin, and had tiny
After finishing her American schooling, Cassatt used her friends and family as live models to draw and paint, and had an increasing fascination with going to museums and copying the items on display. It should be mentioned that a significant portion of her life in America is happening at the same time as the Civil War. As the war drew to a close in 1865, Cassatt knew the next important step for any young emerging artist in the 19th century: going abroad. Going once again against her parents’ wishes, Cassatt planned to move to Europe and become a full-fledged artist at the tender age of twenty-one. Her father is quoted as saying that he “would almost rather see her dead than have her go to Europe by herself to become an artist.” Her parents’ hesitation no doubt stemmed from the loss of their beloved child Robbie. Cassatt was persistent however, and seeing her friends (including Eliza) making their own endeavors to Europe only added to her determination. It is said that Cassatt’s move irreparably shook the close relationship she had with her father, but nonetheless, she and her mother traveled to Paris in December of
Other members of the French Impressionist Group include, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Degas. Cassatt was known as “the painter and poet of the nursery” (Advameg 6). Cassatt painted members of her family and frequently painted her sister Lydia, who resided in Paris, with Cassatt until she passed away after battling an illness for a large amount of time until she passed away in 1882. After her sister’s death Cassatt took a break from painting. (Creative Commons License 14). Cassatt also painted a portrait of her mother entitled Reading Le Figaro (Creative Commons License 15). Later in Cassatt’s career she moved away from impressionism and Cassatt’s new painting style did not fit in any movement (World Biography 6). Her new painting style was simpler than impressionism (Creative Commons License 19). Later in life after taking a trip to Egypt Cassatt viewed the art done by the ancient Egyptians and began to question her level of skill and the artwork that she had created thus far. One of Cassatt’s friends that went on the trip had contracted a disease in Egypt and shortly after their return home, died. These two instances left Cassatt depressed and unable to paint, this loss was emotionally draining and physically jarring and
Impressionist painting was the beginning of a cultural shift away from religious and mythic themes, to subjects and styles that are less static such as everyday life of the general people, and the fleeting moments around them. As history progresses, so does art and the movements they create. The impressionism movement started in an already war-ravaged France where the evolution of ideals and way of life were as impermanent as the subject of the paintings of the time.
In a time when artistic freedom was severely limited, the French Impressionists tirelessly explored new artistic frontiers despite hostile encounters with the public, ultimately redefining the world’s perspective on art.
Thomas Cole was born on February 1, 1801 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. Due to financial problems his family endured, Cole, at the ripe old age of just fourteen, had to find work to assist with the family needs. He entered the work force as a textile printer and wood engraver in Philadelphia. In 1819, Cole returned to Ohio where his parents resided. Here, a portrait painter by the name of Stein, would become Cole’s primary teaching vehicle and inspiration for his oil techniques we’ve come to be familiar with. During this time, Cole was extremely impressed by what he saw in the landscapes of the New World and how different they were from the small town of England from whence he hailed. Self taught, art came naturally to Cole.
The painting is intimate, almost as if was not meant for the eyes of the viewer. The mother gently holds the baby, within her arms, as she feeds him. The mother’s gaze is met by the child as it reaches out to touch her face. The background is simple, emphasizing the closeness between the mother and child, much like Le Brun’s piece. Additionally, Cassatt’s The Child's Bath, 1893 “with its striking and unorthodox composition, is one of Cassatt’s masterworks” (“The Child's Bath”). Within this composition, she employed the use of unconventional devices such as cropped forms, bold patterns and outlines, and a flattened perspective (“The Child's Bath”). Cassatt utilizes a pastel-like color scheme, exemplifying the delicateness and tenderness between the mother and her bathing child. Her brush strokes are swift and gentle, again, suggesting the passionate, yet soft, love the mother has for her child. The elevated vantage point invites the viewer to observe this intimate moment, but not to
Throughout the known history the artists have been striving to capture the world around them in an attempt to document the contemporary events and their surroundings or present their own or their client’s vision or an interpretation of a concept that would illustrate, describe or help visualize an idea. The description of the resulting art is often classifies the work as belonging to a specific style thus illustrating a set of common traits between the artifacts belonging to the same period. Two of these classifications are the Realist and the Impressionist movements.
Jonathan Lethem analyzes the way that various artists across all mediums rip off other artists in his essay “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism”. In his essay, Lethem defines “plagiarism” to mean artists using other artist’s work through “mimicry, quotation, [or] allusion” (61). Rather than word for word copy and pasting of someone’s work, the word plagiarism will be used to describe the use of someone’s work as inspiration for other art in this essay. Lethem does not view this form of plagiarism as a heinous crime, rather, a “sine quo non of the creative act” and in fact, a badge of honor for the one getting “plagiarized” (61). In other words, it’s impossible to be creative without quoting and alluding to people and their works. Using an example of an Iranian filmmaker, Dariush Mehrjui, who used J.D. Salinger's work as a springboard for his work, Lethem asserts the filmmaker “had paid [Salinger] homage” by using it and in doing so, a...
The Influence of The Impressionist Era Impressionism, one of the later eras in classical music composition. An era where emotions are expressed vividly while still following musical structure, where music caused much political controversy, and where France became known for its musical talent. In this essay you will read of how impressionism set a lasting mark in musical and national histories, and how it influenced modern music as we know it. The Impressionist Era all started with Claude Debussy, being tired of the formed classical structure, and the romantic informality.
... the definition derived by each philosopher is profoundly different. In order to construct a coherent, wide-ranging philosophy, art and its impact on society must be reckoned with, whether as an imitation of a system far removed or a system in our midst. The process of imitation is used in both cases to promote the particular version of reality espoused by each man. While such a study is beneficial in tracing the philosophical conflict regarding the usage and importance of imitation in art, what is most apparent, perhaps, is the discovery that language itself is an imperfect imitation of meaning, capable of fostering such conflicts.