Zoom Lecture: Cassatt, Morisot, and the Impressionist Matriarchy

In this live Zoom lecture, Nancy Mowll Mathews will explore the importance of Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot to the success of the Impressionist artist group. Most histories of Impressionism focus on the leadership of Degas, Monet, Renoir and the other men. But Cassatt and Morisot had the art world ambition and social skills to unite and promote the group in ways their male colleagues could not. Furthermore, their exploration of themes of the monumental Modern Woman, mothers and daughters, and female mentorship engaged an international female audience, particularly American, that has resulted in the enduring popularity of the Impressionist style.

Nancy Mowll Mathews began her studies of Mary Cassatt and French and American Impressionism with her Ph.D. dissertation for the Institute of Fine Arts, N.Y.U. Of the more than fifteen books and exhibitions she has produced on this subject, the best known are Cassatt and Her Circle: Selected Letters, Cassatt: The Color Prints and Mary Cassatt: A Life. Most recently she curated and co-wrote the catalogue for Mary Cassatt: An American Impressionist in Paris for the Jacquemart-André Museum (Paris, 2018). She is the emerita Eugénie Prendergast Senior Curator of 19th and 20th Century Art at the Williams College Museum of Art and also taught in the Williams College Art Department and Graduate Program. In addition to her work on Cassatt, she is the co-author of the Prendergast catalogue raisonné, and numerous other books on Maurice and Charles Prendergast, Paul Gauguin, and the relationship between art and early film.

This Zoom lecture is offered for free with a suggested donation amount of $20. Your donations allow Fenimore Art Museum to provide these quality programs in the future.