Mary Cassatt at Work

The First Large-Scale Exhibition of the Celebrated Artist’s Work in the U.S. in 25 years

May 18 – September 8, 2024

Dorrance Galleries

Media Preview: Thursday, May 16, 2024, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

A Goodnight Hug, 1880. Pastel on brown paper laid down on board, 16 9/16 x 24 3/4 in. (42 x 62.8 cm)

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
The Bath, 1890–91. Color drypoint, aquatint and soft-ground etching from two plates, printed à la poupée, on ivory laid paper; plate 12 58 × 9 34 in. (32.1 × 24.7 cm); sheet 17 316 × 11 1316 in. (43.6 × 30 cm). Art Institute of Chicago Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, 1932.1287

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
The Visitor, c. 1881. Soft-ground, aquatint, etching, drypoint, and fabric texture, plate: 15 5/8 × 12 1/8 in. (39.7 × 30.8 cm), sheet: 20 1/2 × 15 3/4 in. (52.1 × 40 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Driving, 1881. Oil on canvas, 35 5/16 × 51 3/8 in. (89.7 × 130.5 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art: Purchased with the W. P. Wilstach Fund, W1921-1-1

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Lydia Seated in the Garden with a Dog on Her Lap, 1878–79. Oil on canvas, 10 3/4 × 16 in. (27.3 × 40.6 cm). Cathy Lasry, New York

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Woman at Her Toilette, c. 1891. Oil on canvas, approx. 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm) Private Collection.

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Under the Lamp_1882_Mary Cassatt_Soft ground etching and aquatint in black on cream wove paper_Art Institute of Chicago, Mr and Mrs Martin A Ryerson Collection, 1932

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1877–78. Oil on canvas, 35 1/4 × 51 1/8 in. (89.5 × 129.9 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.18

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Maternal Caress, 1896. Oil on canvas, 15 × 21 1/4 in. (38.1 × 54 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art: Bequest of Aaron E. Carpenter, 1970-75-2

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
In the Loge, 1879. Pastel with gold metallic paint on canvas. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs Sargent McKean, 1950-52-1

Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.

Philadelphia (April 4, 2024) – The Philadelphia Museum of Art is thrilled to present Mary Cassatt at Work, the first large-scale exhibition of the artist’s work in the U.S. in a quarter century. The exhibition will run from May 18 through September 8, 2024.

On view from May 18 through September 8, 2024, this exhibition brings together over 130 works and rarely seen personal correspondence, illuminating Cassatt’s six-decade-long career investigating the interconnections of gender, labor, and agency, which has not yet been deeply explored.

Born in Pennsylvania, Cassatt, who was the only American member of the French Impressionist movement, developed a remarkable practice depicting the social, intellectual, domestic, and working lives of modern women. Making a living by her art in a rapidly modernizing world, Cassatt’s work represented both commercial opportunity and a vital means of self-definition. “Oh the dignity of work, give me the chance of earning my own living, five francs a day and self-respect,” she wrote to her friend, the collector Louisine Havemeyer.

While the artist is best known for her depictions of women and children, this exhibition highlights Cassatt’s subtle and often overlooked observation of the invisible work particular to the domestic and social spaces inhabited by her female subjects. These women––occupied with caregiving, childrearing, handcraft, teaching, or performing social labor––offer impressions of work, inflected by gender, that combine sensitivity and frankness. The exhibition explores Cassatt’s tender yet unidealized iconography of care work and her interest in the social conditions of the modern woman, developed in pastel, print, and paint.

Mary Cassatt at Work presents Cassatt’s own professional processes in relation to the socially invisible labors she depicted. Drawing on research into the PMA’s significant Cassatt holdings, the exhibition presents new findings about Cassatt’s methods and technical innovation to illuminate the material labors of an artist for whom art and work were inextricable. Ranging from her experimental print-making practice to delicate light-sensitive pastels, it shows Cassatt’s evolving artistic production and demonstrates her commitment to what she described as the “serious” work of artmaking.

“Art was Mary Cassatt’s life’s purpose and living,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “This exhibition focuses on Cassatt’s professionalism, her biography, and the wider Parisian world she inhabited. It’s my hope that this exhibition will reshape contemporary conversations about gender, work, and artistic agency.”

“We hope visitors come away with a sense of who Cassatt was and how carefully she constructed her identity as a working artist,” said curators Jennifer A. Thompson, The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, and Laurel Garber, The Park Family Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings. “With this exhibition, we’ve sought to reexamine the full breadth of Cassatt’s art through the lens of her creative enterprise and draw attention to her commitment to ceaseless experimentation and bold techniques."

Mary Cassatt at Work features works from the extensive Philadelphia Museum of Art collections, including some of Cassatt’s most celebrated paintings and prints, as well as loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and various private collections. A multimedia tour is also available, featuring audio, images, and videos, as well as a fully illustrated catalogue. Following its run at the PMA, Mary Cassatt at Work will travel to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Legion of Honor.

Tickets for Mary Cassatt at Work are now on sale. Visit Mary Cassatt at Work (philamuseum.org)

Support:
Mary Cassatt at Work is made possible by the Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions; Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund; Donna and Marvin Schwartz, with Waqas Wajahat, in honor of Timothy Rub; Gloria and Jack Drosdick Fund for Special Exhibitions; Harriet and Ronald Lassin Fund for Special Exhibitions; Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions; Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Fund for Exhibitions; Mr. and Mrs. S. Matthews V. Hamilton, Jr.; The Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation; Samuel Everett Snider; Robbi and Bruce Toll; an anonymous donor; and other generous donors.