Mary Cassatt, born in Allegheny City, PA lived in Europe with her family in her formative years. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, after which she traveled to Paris to further her studies in art. Nearly four years later, after the onset of the Franco-Prussian war, she returned to Philadelphia. On her next trip to France, she befriended Edgar Degas and joined the Impressionist movement in France. Her French contemporaries greatly impacted her style; as she became more involved with the French artists, she picked up elements of their paintings in her own.(13) Cassatt was one of the first American artists to embrace the Impressionist movement, and the sole American to actually participate in exhibitions with the French Impressionists.(14)
Cassatt’s influence regarding Impressionism in America was more subtle, yet crucial to the movement of the style from Europe to America. Cassatt used her American roots to encourage her American friends to buy paintings by Degas and others he was in league with.(15) She contributed to American art as an advisor to art collectors, convincing them of the value of Impressionist paintings. (16)While Cassatt was influential in the popularity of Impressionism in America, her paintings themselves were not highly publicized in America and thus were not as popular.(17)
Mary Cassatt, Lilacs in a Window, 1880, oil on canvas, accessed February 23, 2016, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cassatt_Mary_Lilacs_in_a_Window_1880.jpg.
William Merritt Chase was born in Indiana in 1849. He studied in Indianapolis and at the National Academy of Design in New York, after which, he gained the sponsorship of a group of St. Louis businessmen who sent him to study in Europe. Instead of Paris, the seemingly obvious choice, Chase chose to study in Munich because he felt that he would be less distracted there. Upon his return, he accepted a position as a teacher at the Art Students League and became one of America’s most highly regarded art teachers.(18)
During the course of his studies in Munich, Chase became attracted to techniques involving heavy, intense brushwork, and dramatic lighting called chiaroscuro. His personal style became a sort of conglomeration of many different techniques, eclectically borrowing techniques from across styles. Although he had the ability to imitate many different schools, Chase was an accomplished impressionistic painter. He made a large collection drawing inspiration from New York’s public parks, depicting them with beauty and elegance. He portrayed high society and class, subject matter typical of the Impressionist painters. Although Chase succeeded in Impressionism, he still honored tradition, most prominently in portraiture and still life. The Belgian painter, Alfred Stevens, told Chase: “Don’t try to make your pictures look as if they were done by the Old Masters.”(19) This prompted him to adopt a very modernistic look.(20)
William Merritt Chase, The Chase Homestead, Shinnecock, ca. 1893, oil on canvas, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, accessed February 8, 2016, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Merritt_Chase_The_Chase_Homestaead_Shinnecock_c_1893.jpg.
Born in Dorchester, MA, Childe Hassam was descended from early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He studied in Boston first, then went to Paris, where he was one of the few American painters at the time who was attracted rather than repulsed by Impressionism. Hassam’s paintings chronicle New York City at the turn of the century. Although he often painted images of cities, especially those in the early stages of their growth, he enjoyed spending long hours lingering in the countryside. The country was where he found solace from the noise and heat of the city; he found inspiration within the rocks and trees of the landscape. Many of Hassam’s most popular work depict old-fashioned gardens, rocks along the coast, and the idyllic sunny, summery Maine.
Childe Hassam, The Water Garden, 1909, oil on canvas, accessed February 23, 2016, http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/14871.
13. H. Barbara Weinberg, "Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926)," 2004, in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), accessed February 7, 2016, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cast/hd_cast.htm.
14. Taube, "American Impressionism."
15. Taube, "American Impressionism."
16. Weinberg, "Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926)," in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
17. Taube, "American Impressionism."
18. H. Barbara Weinberg, "William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)," 2011, in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), accessed February 8, 2016, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chas/hd_chas.htm.
19. Weinberg, "William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)," in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
20. Weinberg, "William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)," in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
21. H. Barbara Weinberg, "Childe Hassam (1859-1935)," 2004, in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), accessed February 7, 2016, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hass/hd_hass.htm.
14. Taube, "American Impressionism."
15. Taube, "American Impressionism."
16. Weinberg, "Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926)," in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
17. Taube, "American Impressionism."
18. H. Barbara Weinberg, "William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)," 2011, in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), accessed February 8, 2016, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chas/hd_chas.htm.
19. Weinberg, "William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)," in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
20. Weinberg, "William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)," in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
21. H. Barbara Weinberg, "Childe Hassam (1859-1935)," 2004, in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), accessed February 7, 2016, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hass/hd_hass.htm.
Cover Image: Childe Hassam, The Water Garden, 1909, oil on canvas, accessed February 23, 2016, http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/14871.