Mary Cassatt at Work at Legion of Honor, SF

# Mary Cassatt at Work

Too often dismissed as a sentimental painter of mothers and children, Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was in fact a modernist pioneer. Her paintings, pastels, and prints are characterized by restless experimentation and change. Cassatt was the only American to join the French Impressionists, first exhibiting with the group at Degas’s invitation in 1879, and quickly emerged as a key member of the movement. Alongside scenes of women at the opera, visiting friends, and taking tea, Cassatt produced many images of “women’s work” — knitting and needlepoint, bathing children, and nursing infants. These images suggest parallels between the work of art making and the work of caregiving. The exhibition calls attention to the artist’s own processes of making — how she used her brush, etching needle, pastel stick, and even fingertips to create radical art under the cover of “feminine” subject matter.

Articles for Additional Reading:

• "Offering fresh insight into Cassatt’s world and working methods."
  -Hettie Judah, The Art Newspaper
• "It’s Cassatt’s artmaking as a source of independence and vital means of self-definition that comes into view."
  -Chadd Scott, Forbes
• "The first large exhibition of the artist in the United States in over 25 years."
  -Karen Chernick, Artnet

Tickets can be purchased at FAMSF. We may have free tickets depending on how many members sign up. If you are a member please obtain two tickets and let me know.

Let's meet and greet at the Cafe where we can enjoy a cup of coffee, tea or drink of your choice before the scheduled Docent Tour at 11:30.

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