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Mathews, Nancy Mowll. Mary Cassatt: A LIfe. Villard Books, 1994.

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Mary Cassatt was born to Robert S. Cassatt and Katherine Kelso Johnston on May 22, 1844.

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Mary developed mature interests due to her parents encouragement. She felt a passion for "line and color" so by the age of 15 she knew she would be an artist. It wasn't a hard thing for Mary to pick up due to her European education background and her drawing lessons that she had from a very young age. Because of Mary's parents'interest in Art it had helped Mary familiarize herself with public exhibitions, artists studios, and private collectors galleries.

Quote #1
"Her parents had encouraged the children to develop their own talents and treated them as equals as they grew up. As a consequence, Mary developed mature interests and engaged in a lifelong study of literature, politic, and the foibles of modern society. Most of all, she felt "a passion for line and color," (15)

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American 19th century Art

Mary often visited local art galleries that were near her house in Pennsylvania.

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19th-century American art in 5 themes | Christie’s

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The century after the United States got independence saw artists making works that helped to form its cultural identity

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Mary discontinued her general studies at the age of 15 to study art full-time, this was relatively young for girls in her class. Although her general studies were discontinued, she did study the languages necessary for art, German, French, and Italian.

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"The Cassatts were reconciled to Mary's choice of study by the knowledge that their daughter would be among her social peers at the academy." (18)

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The First and Oldest art museum/school in the United States that May Cassatt attended

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PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

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PAFA members enjoy complimentary admission, exclusive member programming and events-plus discounts on the Museum Store, Continuing Education, Summer Camps, Tableau Cafè and much more.

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Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) | Art Museum and School | Founded in 1805

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Founded in 1805, PAFA is the first museum and school of fine arts in the nation. PAFA's museum is internationally known for its collections of American art, and our school attracts some of the most committed and promising art students.

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Although Mary enjoyed her life in the country she was growing restless. As the war drew to a close in 1865 she began planning the next step of an American art student, studying abroad. At this point she was 21 and her love for art only grew. Her parents realized that they could not keep her at home any longer so her and her mother signed up for passports on October 4, 1865.

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"Her father was most distressed by his daughters plans. Mary remembered for years that in a burst of anger he had told her he would almost rather see her dead than have her go to Europe by herself to become an artist." (26)

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Mary moved to Rome and took a master named Charles Bellay. Mary's painting was finally accepted in May of that year (1870). Mary was recognized by art colonies of Rome and Paris.

Quote #4
"Once in Rome, Cassatt moved quickly. She took yet another master, Charles Bellay, a Frenchman who divided his time between Paris and Rome, And set about executing for the Salon of 1870." (61)

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Salon was an art exhibition sponsored by the French government.

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Salon, official exhibition of art sponsored by the French government. It originated in 1667 when Louis XIV sponsored an exhibit of the works of the members of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, and the salon derives its name from the fact that the exhibition was hung in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre Palace in Paris. After 1737 the Salon became an annual rather than a sporadic event, and in 1748 the jury system of selection was introduced. During the French Revolution the Salon was opened for the first time to all French artists, although the academicians continued to control most of the exhibitions held in the 19th century. With the formation in 1881 of the Société des Artistes Français to take over the responsibility of holding the Salon, and with the growing importance of independent exhibitions of the works of avant-garde artists, the Salon gradually lost its influence and prestige.

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Salon, official exhibition of art sponsored by the French government. It originated in 1667 when Louis XIV sponsored an exhibit of the works of the members of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, and the salon derives its name from the fact that the exhibition was hung in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre Palace in Paris.

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Mary decided to move back to the U.S to rejoin her family. She was extremely happy to finally rejoin her family once again but it was not easy, she started reviving family ties and took proper career steps by engaging in models, studios, and dealers. She soon realized she could not be happy in that environment. She was an unsold artist and could not flourish in the U.S. She soon decided to give up art all together.

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As the weather began to cool Mary's depression lifted, she had not given up art after all. She decided to go west but not to find employment, she was there to find a new market for her art.

Quote #6
"Cassatt's depression lifted somewhat with the cooler weather, and she did not abandon art after all." (75)

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She was finally starting to make some money after going west to find a new market. She made enough money to go back to Europe but she still needed some help, she reassured her parents that she was finally starting to make money with her art and so of to Europe she went.

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In Europe she flourished. She soon became one of the best artists working in Parma. Just months after coming back to Europe she received her best response she's gotten yet at the Paris Salon. Now returning to the U.S was out of the question for her.

Quote #7
"Cassatt leaped from the depths of despair in the summer of 1871 in Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania, to being hailed six months later in Parma." (77)

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Everyone at the Parma academy praised Mary's painting. The praise of students and professors grew more and more enthusiastic. Mary became a hot topic in Parma.

Quote #8
"All Parma is talking of Miss Cassatt and her pictures, everyone is anxious to know her." (79)

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Cassatt decided to settle in Paris in 1874 and to put an end to the romantic nomadic life that she's been living for the past 8 years. By now Cassatt is 30 and is ready to live a more settled life. Cassatt's maturity increased along with her age which helped her realize that her professional and financial problems were weighing on her and she is ready to make sacrifices for her career.

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Easing her way back into the Paris community, Cassatt spent that summer with her old teacher, Thomas Couture. With the help of Couture, Cassatt formulated a style more in keeping with the newest Paris Vogue.

Quote #9
"That Summer she may also tried to rein in the extreme Ruben-esque style she had let loose in Rome and, with Couture's help, formulate a style more in keeping with the latest Paris vogue." (95)

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Mary was venturing on and with the help of her old teacher she came up with a new style that was more in keeping of Paris vogue.

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Get the latest on Paris from Vogue. Find articles, slideshows and more.

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Mary made her real debut at the age of 34 when impressionist exhibition opened on 04/10/1979. Cassatt had been waiting 2 years for this moment.

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Finally after living over ten years in Paris, Mary no longer felt like a foreigner. Paris had opened their whole arms for Mary. With her wit, curiosity, and creative authority she made way into the French art establishment and high society.

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Mary's brother had remarried and gave birth to their first child, Gardener Cassatt. Gardener Cassatt was born sickly and ill, the whole family worried for his survival for his first winter but luckily a year later when the family returned to Paris Gardener had became a fat, happy, healthy kid. This inspired Mary's art, she soon translated this into her pieces. She started a mother child series of art which would go on to be one of her best works. This became her signature theme for the next 30 years.

Quote #10
"The child inspired in Mary Cassatt deep emotions that she immediately translated into art." (182)

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Mary decided to take a few months off and take a trip with family at the end of 1910, she had doubled her income from sales and received extensive coverage from French and American publications. It took time for Mary to adjust to this slow-paced traveling experience. She wasn't used to it, in fact, she missed her work routine. As time went on she missed her work more and more and by the end of the trip she had been poorly physically and mentally damaged.

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Getting from point A to point B has not always been as easy as online booking, Global Entry, and Uber. It was a surprisingly recent event when the average American traded in the old horse-and-carriage look for a car, plane, or even private jet.

What was it like to travel at the turn of the century? If you were heading out for a trans-Atlantic trip at the very beginning of the 20th century, there was one option: boat. Travelers planning a cross-country trip had something akin to options: carriage, car (for those who could afford one), rail, or electric trolley lines - especially as people moved from rural areas to cities.

At the beginning of the 1900s, leisure travel in general was something experienced exclusively by the wealthy and elite population. In the early-to-mid-20th century, trains were steadily a popular way to get around, as were cars. The debut regional airlines welcomed their first passengers in the 1920s, but the airline business didn't see its boom until several decades later. During the '50s, a huge portion of the American population purchased a set of wheels, giving them the opportunity to hit the open road and live the American dream.

Come 1960, airports had expanded globally to provide both international and domestic flights to passengers. Air travel became a luxury industry, and a transcontinental trip soon became nothing but a short journey.

So, what's next? The leisure travel industry has quite a legacy to fulfill - fancy a trip up to Mars, anyone? Here, we've outlined how travel (and specifically, transportation) has evolved over every decade of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The 1900s was all about that horse-and-carriage travel life. Horse-drawn carriages were the most popular mode of transport, as it was before cars came onto the scene. In fact, roadways were not plentiful in the 1900s, so most travelers would follow the waterways (primarily rivers) to reach their destinations. The 1900s is the last decade before the canals, roads, and railway plans really took hold in the U.S., and as such, it represents a much slower and antiquated form of travel than the traditions we associate with the rest of the 20th century.

Cross-continental travel became more prevalent in the 1910s as ocean liners surged in popularity. In the '10s, sailing via steam ship was the only way to get to Europe. The most famous ocean liner of this decade, of course, was the Titanic. The largest ship in service at the time of its 1912 sailing, the Titanic departed Southampton, England on April 10 (for its maiden voyage) and was due to arrive in New York City on April 17. At 11:40 p.m. on the evening of April 14, it collided with an iceberg and sank beneath the North Atlantic three hours later. Still, when the Titanic was constructed, it was the largest human-made moving object on the planet and the pinnacle of '10s travel.

The roaring '20s really opened our eyes up to the romance and excitement of travel. Railroads in the U.S. were expanded in World War II, and travelers were encouraged to hop on the train to visit out-of-state resorts. It was also a decade of prosperity and economic growth, and the first time middle-class families could afford one of the most crucial travel luxuries: a car. In Europe, luxury trains were having a '20s moment coming off the design glamour of La Belle Epoque, even though high-end train travel dates back to the mid-1800s when George Pullman introduced the concept of private train cars.

Finally, ocean liners bounced back after the challenges of 1912 with such popularity that the Suez Canal had to be expanded. Most notably, travelers would cruise to destinations like Jamaica and the Bahamas.

Cue "Jet Airliner" because we've made it to the '30s, which is when planes showed up on the mainstream travel scene. While the airplane was invented in 1903 by the Wright brothers, and commercial air travel was possible in the '20s, flying was quite a cramped, turbulent experience, and reserved only for the richest members of society. Flying in the 1930s (while still only for elite, business travelers) was slightly more comfortable. Flight cabins got bigger - and seats were plush, sometimes resembling living room furniture.

In 1935, the invention of the Douglas DC-3 changed the game - it was a commercial airliner that was larger, more comfortable, and faster than anything travelers had seen previously. Use of the Douglas DC-3 was picked up by Delta, TWA, American, and United. The '30s was also the first decade that saw trans-Atlantic flights. Pan American Airways led the charge on flying passengers across the Atlantic, beginning commercial flights across the pond in 1939.

1940s & 1950s

Road trip heyday was in full swing in the '40s, as cars got better and better. From convertibles to well-made family station wagons, cars were getting bigger, higher-tech, and more luxurious. Increased comfort in the car allowed for longer road trips, so it was only fitting that the 1950s brought a major expansion in U.S. highway opportunities.

The 1950s brought the Interstate system, introduced by President Eisenhower. Prior to the origination of the "I" routes, road trippers could take only the Lincoln Highway across the country (it ran all the way from NYC to San Francisco). But the Lincoln Highway wasn't exactly a smooth ride - parts of it were unpaved - and that's one of the reasons the Interstate system came to be. President Eisenhower felt great pressure from his constituents to improve the roadways, and he obliged in the '50s, paving the way for smoother road trips and commutes.

The '60s is the Concorde plane era. Enthusiasm for supersonic flight surged in the '60s when France and Britain banded together and announced that they would attempt to make the first supersonic aircraft, which they called Concorde. The Concorde was iconic because of what it represented, forging a path into the future of aviation with supersonic capabilities. France and Britain began building a supersonic jetliner in 1962, it was presented to the public in 1967, and it took its maiden voyage in 1969. However, because of noise complaints from the public, enthusiasm for the Concorde was quickly curbed. Only 20 were made, and only 14 were used for commercial airline purposes on Air France and British Airways. While they were retired in 2003, there is still fervent interest in supersonic jets nearly 20 years later.

Amtrak incorporated in 1971 and much of this decade was spent solidifying its brand and its place within American travel. Amtrak initially serviced 43 states (and Washington D.C.) with 21 routes. In the early '70s, Amtrak established railway stations and expanded to Canada. The Amtrak was meant to dissuade car usage, especially when commuting. But it wasn't until 1975, when Amtrak introduced a fleet of Pullman-Standard Company Superliner cars, that it was regarded as a long-distance travel option. The 235 new cars - which cost $313 million - featured overnight cabins, and dining and lounge cars.

The '80s are when long-distance travel via flight unequivocally became the norm. While the '60s and '70s saw the friendly skies become mainstream, to a certain extent, there was still a portion of the population that saw it as a risk or a luxury to be a high-flyer. Jetsetting became commonplace later than you might think, but by the '80s, it was the long-haul go-to mode of transportation.

1990s & 2000s

Plans for getting hybrid vehicles on the road began to take shape in the '90s. The Toyota Prius (a gas-electric hybrid) was introduced to the streets of Japan in 1997 and took hold outside Japan in 2001. Toyota had sold 1 million Priuses around the world by 2007. The hybrid trend that we saw from '97 to '07 paved the way for the success of Teslas, chargeable BMWs, and the electric car adoption we've now seen around the world. It's been impactful not only for the road trippers but for the average American commuter.

If we're still cueing songs up here, let's go ahead and throw on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," because the 2010s are when air travel became positively over-the-top. Qatar Airways rolled out their lavish Qsuites in 2017. Business class-only airlines like La Compagnie (founded in 2013) showed up on the scene. The '10s taught the luxury traveler that private jets weren't the only way to fly in exceptional style.

Of course, we can't really say what the 2020 transportation fixation will be - but the stage has certainly been set for this to be the decade of commercial space travel. With Elon Musk building an elaborate SpaceX rocket ship and making big plans to venture to Mars, and of course, the world's first space hotel set to open in 2027, it certainly seems like commercialized space travel is where we're headed next.

Ellie Nan Storck

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What Travel Looked Like Through the Decades

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Getting from point A to point B has not always been as easy as online booking, Global Entry, and Uber. It was a surprisingly recent event when the average American traded in the old horse-and-carriage look for a car, plane, or even private jet. What was it like to travel at the turn of the century?

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Mary's nephew, Gard was very ill throughout their trip but not ill enough to have interrupted their trip. Mary arrived back in Paris before everyone else to get things ready for Gard to come back. By the time the family arrived back in Paris in March, they all saw the severity of Gardeners illness. Cassatt greeted the family at the train station with a doctor and ambulance but it was no use, Gard passed away on April 5, 1911. Due to all the stress of her nephew whom she adored passing away Mary had collapsed. Doctors ordered her to have strict bed rest and solitude.

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By May Mary was all alone. She had realized that she had plummeted greatly. She went from height of activity, success, self-confidence to the depths of physical pain and spiritual paralysis. For the next two years she would suffer from tremendous body pains but what was even worse was her inability to work.

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After 1 year Mary's body miraculously started recovering. Even doctors were shocked to see this happen. But still she would refuse to paint.

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Mary died on June 14. She was very ill suffering from diabetes, old age, and losses of mental focus. She was buried in her family's plot in the town cemetery of Mesnil-Théribus.