The American painter Mary Cassatt, who rubbed elbows with the impressionists over a century ago, looks ready for a boom, with a big traveling exhibition of her work touring the Chicago Art Institute, the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in 1998-1999. It would be difficult to find a more intelligent introductory guide than this one by feminist art critic Griselda Pollock, who teaches social and critical histories at the University of Leeds, England. Pollock's most familiar previous book is Old Mistresses: Women, Art, and Ideology, and she scotches the widespread idea of Mary Cassatt as a soft and wimpy painter of babies, similar to Auguste Renoir, who is also victimized by critics today for his soft female images. Instead, Pollock sees Cassatt as the "painter of modern women" who was unafraid of such tough artistic influences as Degas, Courbet, and Manet. In this clearly written guide, Cassatt's courage shines through, but also her variety. Readers may begin to look at the women and children in the paintings and discern new expressions in their faces, not just the sweet sentiment that has usually been interpreted therein. This is a revelatory book to accompany what looks likely to be a revelatory exhibit. --Benjamin Ivry


From Library Journal
Modern study of Mary Cassatt has been largely, although not entirely, based upon the faultless work of Adelyn Breeskin, Frederick Sweet, and Nancy Mowll Mathews. Now the eight contributors to this huge volume have added truly monumental data on the life and work of Cassatt and to Impressionist art history in general. Six independent essays reveal new aspects of the artist's work and personality. The standout essay is Judith Barter's "Mary Cassatt: Themes, Sources and the Modern Woman." Others cover Cassatt's early realist style, her relationship to Degas, her American exhibitions, and Cassatt's impact upon the formation of art collections in the United States. In addition, there are 300 illustrations, including 124 excellent color plates, and a 25-page illustrated chronology with maps. Essential. British feminist art historian Pollock (Mary Cassatt, LJ 2/15/81) here offers her second book on Cassatt. Part of the respected British "World of Art" paperback series, the book is compact, well illustrated (184 images, 55 in color), and inexpensive. Technical art history terms explained for the introductory reader confirm this as intended for the general public and large libraries. As the back cover makes plain, it is also meant to be a radically new study redefining Cassatt in "the Parisian avant-garde and in American art." But the discussion too often descends to the polemical and cannot be depended upon for factual accuracy; there are sources but no traditional footnotes. The undercurrent of distaste for Cassatt's country of birth and family origins is unnecessary. An optional purchase.?Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson Univ., MDCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
This groundbreaking new study redefines Mary Cassatt's status in the Parisian avant-garde and in American art, placing her work in the wider context of nineteenth-century feminism and art theory. Admired by Degas--who invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists in 1877--Cassatt brought a New Women's perspective to the theater, drawing room, garden, and studio. Griselda Pollock emphasizes Cassatt's study of Old Masters and interest in Manet's work, and stresses her great influence on the creation of American collections of French modernism. She argues that Cassatt's experimentation with etching and pastels from the late 1880s enabled her to represent women and children without sentiment, but with a deepening awareness of a complex psychological charge. Professor of Social and Critical Histories of Art at the University of Leeds, Griselda Pollock's many books include Old Mistresses: Women, Art, and Ideology (with Roszika Parker).

FROM OUR EDITORS

With a major traveling exhibition of Mary Cassatt's work making the rounds of U.S. museums, it's the right time to rethink the most famous American Impressionist. Cassatt's paintings, many of which depict women and children in natural settings, have, in the past, been marginalized because of their subject matter. This new study approaches the work from a new angle, one that shows Cassatt's awareness of the growing importance of the psychological bond between people.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This radically new study redefines the American artist Mary Cassatt's status in the Parisian avant-garde and in American art-- placing her work in the wider context of nineteenth-century feminism and art theory. Cassatt's art explores a New Woman's perspective on the spaces of modernity: at the theatre, in the drawing-room and garden, in the studio. Admired by Degas-- who invited her to show with the Impressionists in 1877-- Cassatt's work reveals her profound study of Old Masters and keen responses to contemporary French and Spanish painters. Griselda Pollock puts a new emphasis on Cassatt's interest in Manet and her influence on American collections of French modernism. She also argues that Cassatt's experimentation with etching and pastel from the late 1880s enabled her to represent women and children without sentimentality but with a deepening awareness of a complex psychological charge. 184 illus., 55 in color.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Modern study of Mary Cassatt has been largely, although not entirely, based upon the faultless work of Adelyn Breeskin, Frederick Sweet, and Nancy Mowll Mathews. Now the eight contributors to this huge volume have added truly monumental data on the life and work of Cassatt and to Impressionist art history in general. Six independent essays reveal new aspects of the artist's work and personality. The standout essay is Judith Barter's "Mary Cassatt: Themes, Sources and the Modern Woman." Others cover Cassatt's early realist style, her relationship to Degas, her American exhibitions, and Cassatt's impact upon the formation of art collections in the United States. In addition, there are 300 illustrations, including 124 excellent color plates, and a 25-page illustrated chronology with maps. Essential. British feminist art historian Pollock (Mary Cassatt, LJ 2/15/81) here offers her second book on Cassatt. Part of the respected British "World of Art" paperback series, the book is compact, well illustrated (184 images, 55 in color), and inexpensive. Technical art history terms explained for the introductory reader confirm this as intended for the general public and large libraries. As the back cover makes plain, it is also meant to be a radically new study redefining Cassatt in "the Parisian avant-garde and in American art." But the discussion too often descends to the polemical and cannot be depended upon for factual accuracy; there are sources but no traditional footnotes. The undercurrent of distaste for Cassatt's country of birth and family origins is unnecessary. An optional purchase.--Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson Univ., MD

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