Cassatt exhibit celebrates mother-child bond

Mary Cassatt convincingly painted the most intimate moments of motherhood, even though she never married or had children. Close relationships with relatives and friends sustained Cassatt’s life and art, as underscored in a pleasant show of her female portraits and studies at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

The exhibit of about 47 paintings, drawings and etchings doesn’t showcase the artist’s best works, but provides a good introduction to her career and skills across different media. It was organized by curator Nancy Mowll Mathews of the Williams College Museum of Art around works from Vermont’s Shelburne Museum, which was founded by Electra Webb, the youngest daughter of art patron Louisine Havemeyer.

A strong presence in the show — even one of her Worth gowns is on display — Havemeyer shared a long friendship with Cassatt (1844-1926) and relied on the older artist’s advice in amassing a remarkable collection of impressionist artworks (acquired with husband Harry Havemeyer, most were bequeathed to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art). Their allegiance forms an interesting, though diverting sidelight to the display of Cassatt’s art.

The two women met in Paris in 1874. By then, the 30-year-old Cassatt had exhibited a painting at the Paris Salon and was busy developing a more fluid, contemporary style. In 1877, she was invited by friend Edgar Degas to show her work with the impressionists and soon joined their ranks in capturing her surroundings with immediacy and directness.

While a member of the avant-garde, Cassatt kept a distance from her Parisian peers. The daughter of a wealthy Pittsburgh banker, she led a quiet life away from the cafes and dance halls frequented by her impressionist colleagues.

Her main subjects were genteel women like herself engaged in polite social or domestic activities, such as sewing, reading and drinking tea. Seemingly unaware of being observed, these casually posed figures counter the idealized images of femininity popular during the Victorian era.

Children entered Cassatt’s paintings in 1880 when her brother Alexander, his wife Lois and their four children visited Paris. The standout in a gallery full of these family portraits is the charming likeness of niece Ellen Mary who is dwarfed by a big, blue-ribboned hat. The artist seems to be poking fun at the adult-style attire worn by children of the times.

By the 1890s, Cassatt had established a reputation for her pairings of mothers and infants. Works such as “The Oval Mirror” and “Nude Baby on Mother’s Lap Resting her Right Arm on the Back of a Chair” are modern-day reinterpretations of Madonna and Child compositions from the old masters. The artist became familiar with such religious imagery during her academic training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and in Europe.

Cassatt had her first solo exhibition in 1891, revealing a talent for printmaking. The exhibit includes several drypoint images that underscore the razor-sharp precision of her drawing. Like many of her contemporaries, she was influenced by the flat planes and sharp lines of Japanese woodcuts.

Prints such as “The Coiffure” and “The Fitting” are as striking for their graphic juxtapositions of pattern and color as for their vignettes of boudoir life. They were influenced by Degas but look far more modern compared with his fussy etching of Cassatt visiting the Louvre, which is also included in the show.

Daughters of neighbors and friends became favorite subjects for Cassatt in the 1900s. These closely observed studies capture the innocence of childhood with expressions as candid as those caught on camera.

“Susan Comforting the Baby No. 1” depicts the recognizable pout of an infant seeking motherly solace. “Simone in a Blue Bonnet” pictures a girl in an oversized plumed hat and bowed neckline to draw attention to her downcast gaze.

The last part of the exhibit concentrates on Cassatt’s role as an advocate for the best new French art. On display are Claude Monet’s 1874 painting of a drawbridge in Amsterdam, one of the first impressionist paintings brought to this country, and several small horse sculptures by Degas.

They were purchased by the Havemeyers and now belong to the Shelburne Museum, but are unnecessary additions to the show. More germane are Cassatt’s marvelous portraits of her friend from the 1890s. One pastel shows Havemeyer in a dress with big puffed sleeves and full skirt, as regal as a queen. Another drawing pictures the collector holding hands with her daughter Electra in a tender scene of mother-daughter bonding.

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