Mary Cassatt~Lecture at the American Library in Paris~ Missing Paris Day

Self-Portrait of the Artist

Tuesday November 9th, 2010 at 7:30pm, the American Library in Paris will present a lecture and slide show on the world of artist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) given by Chris Boicos.

Born to an affluent family in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (ancestral name Cossart), Mary Cassatt went against her family's wishes in pursuing a life of artistry-- much less in Paris. Frustrated with her male instructors and fellow students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, she took it upon herself to study the old masters.

Moving to Paris with a few family chaperones in 1866, and as women were not yet allowed to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, she requested to study with one of the school's masters being accepted by Jean-Leon Gerome. She became friends with Edgar Degas and was invited to exhibit with the Impressionists, becoming the second woman in the group next to Berthe Morisot who also became her friend. Degas introduced her to working with pastels as well as etching, both of which she became proficient in.

Against her father's wishes (who offered throughout her life to help pay for her living expenses but never her art supplies), her instructor's patronizing and the French school's refusal of female students, she made her own way, becoming well-known for her tender scenes of mother and child. In later years, she took up the Women's Suffragette movement and in 1915 exhibited eighteen works in support of the cause.

For a look into her life and work, join Chris Boicos, Founder of Paris Art Studies (and former Art History professor at USC in Paris) at ALP.


ALP is located at:
10, rue du General Camou
(a couple of blocks from the Eiffel Tower)

7th arrondissement,
75007 Paris, France
• Tel. +33 (0)1 53 59 12 60

For more information or a schedule of upcoming events, go to
http://www.americanlibraryinparis.org/

(Photo above, a Self-Portrait of the Artist, and info via Wikipedia)