Uncompromising and fearless, Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) traversed a breathtaking artistic path.
Training in Philadelphia in the early 1860s, Cassatt then traveled to Europe largely on her own to study with noted teachers and experience the continent’s traditional and modern art firsthand. In 1877 she made the daring decision to join the French Impressionists—the only American to exhibit with them. It was in the years following the eighth and final Impressionist group show in 1886 that Cassatt produced some of her most innovative—and now celebrated—compositions.
Marking the centennial of her death, Mary Cassatt: After Impressionism examines her paintings, pastels, and prints of this pivotal period when she took her art making in new directions. In the prime years of her career—the late 1880s through the early 1900s—Cassatt pursued ambitious and experimental work, exploring the theme of mothers and caretakers with children, creating complex color prints, and undertaking an unprecedented mural commission for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
In this member-exclusive talk, curator Annelise K. Madsen explores the remarkable work of this relentless experimenter, showcasing Cassatt’s modernist breakthroughs as a painter, printmaker, and muralist at the height of her career.
About the Speaker
Annelise K. Madsen, Gilda and Henry Buchbinder Curator, Arts of the Americas, joined the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. She has particular interest in elevating historical women artists through museum programming, collections research, acquisitions, and scholarship. Annelise co-curated and co-edited Georgia O’Keeffe: “My New Yorks” (2024), curated and authored John Singer Sargent and Chicago’s Gilded Age (2018), and has contributed to a number of other exhibitions and publications at the Art Institute. She holds a PhD in art history from Stanford University and a BA from Washington University in St. Louis.
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