Happy Birthday Mary Cassatt - A True Feminist

Mary Cassatt, A Woman and A Girl Driving, 1881
(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Mary Cassatt was a maverick among her peers that broke all the conventions of 19th century society while living a perfectly respectable life (which was the most important thing at her day and age) and enjoying success and acceptance as an American Impressionist artist in Paris.   When we are still discussing gender discrimination and social gendered roles, Cassatt managed to work as a professional artist, exhibit with the Impressionists and  leave behind an exceptional legacy for all American artists to follow.  Some might argue at this point that she was born into a privileged background allowing her to pursue her career as an artist in Paris but  I would like to point out that she was from a wealthy family in Philadelphia which was a conservative area with very strict expectations from a woman of her position.  Like all women of her class, she was expected to marry and have children, not go traipsing about in Europe learning to paint and displaying her talents for all the world to see.  

Elisabeth Vigee-LeBrunn and Jean Metzinger - A Dialog About Maternite

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrunn, Madame Vigee LeBrunn and
Her  Daughter, Jeanne Lucie Louise, 1789
(Musee du Louvre)

Jean Metzinger, Femme a la Fenetre (Maternite), 1911
(Private Collection, Switzerland)

 Last week was mother's day and since I was busy celebrating as a mother, sister and an aunt, I could not find the time to sit and write.  Just because I have been remiss does not mean I can pass up an opportunity to write about the most utilized theme in art history, Mother and Child.

The Sacred Made Real in Zurbaràn's Crucifixion

Francisco de Zurbaran, The Crucifixion, 1627
(Art Institute of Chicago)

We contemplate, analyze and even fall in love with works of art, but encountering them in sterile museum settings, away from their original locations, original intent, something vital of their true essence can get lost.  Especially when trying to recreate a narrative about people and events from four centuries ago involving the most sacred of subjects "feeling the love" can be quite challenging.  Zurbaràn’s Crucifixion however, is such a phenomenal painting that it can enchant a viewer despite differences in religion, culture, geography even centuries.