Mary Cassatt Definition Of Art

Art, defined by Merriam-Webster, is the “conscious use of skill and creative imagination, especially in the production of aesthetic objects, acquired by experience, study or observation”. Such a basic definition for the broad aspects of what art really is and who creates it. Artists, though out time, have defined what art is. They did not define art just by the skill of it though. They defined art in such a way that it related to life, morals and movements, and still does to this day. Art came a long way, but one era in time where it truly came to life, was the nineteenth century. In the early nineteenth century, there was the expectation that men played the dominant role in creating breathtaking works of art, while women were expected to stay …show more content…
Her parents, Robert Cassatt and Katherine Johnston, viewed traveling as an integral part of education. This allowed Mary to travel to London, Paris, Berlin and others, all before she was ten years old. Her parents were wealthier, favorable people. Robert Cassatt was a stockbroker and Katherine Johnston was raised from a banking family. Mary’s first run-in with art was when she had lessons in music and drawing while she was abroad. Mary was a very intelligent individual and even learned how to speak German and French. She was only eleven years old when she attended the Paris World’s Fair of 1855. Little did she know, she met her later-in-life mentor and colleague, Edgar Degas, a French artist. Throughout her years of traveling, Mary began her studies in art around the age of fifteen, a very early age to begin. She started to study art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the first of many challenges that Mary faced actually came from her father, who strongly disagreed with her wanting to become a professional artist. This was not uncommon due to this time frame of the nineteenth century. To Mary’s parents, it was probably impractical in their eyes that a female would go after a professional job where men typically dominated. Mary knew this, yet it did not phase her nor make her fear going into this profession. This was one of the most important aspects of what made Mary the independent woman that she was. She went against the odds of politics and society with confidence. Determined to better her developing art skills and understandings, that she was lacking from the narrow minded male faculty and students in Pennsylvania, she eventually moved to Paris in 1865. Now, a key factor in this time period that made it difficult for woman to study art was the limited access they had to proper and adequate art training. Mary Cassatt was lucky, though, to find