Mary Cassatt and Young Woman Reading

'Young woman reading' (1876) by Mary Cassatt; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

It's incredible how many paintings exist depicting women reading. Here is another one by Mary Cassatt, born on 22 May 1844. She was an American Impressionist painter who was specialised in painting children. I never liked her paintings very much but I guess I didn't really like the paintings of children. Seeing all the images of her paintings together, there is enough left for me to like. Cassatt became one of the leading American painters at a time that the art world was predominantly male. She studied art both in the States and Europe. In 1871, she spent eight months in Parma, Italy, doing an extensive study on the Italian painter Correggio. I read that the result can be seen in her work, notably in her paintings of children. Apparently they owed much to Correggio's paintings of Madonna and child. I have to tell you that if I wouldn't have known this, I would never have guessed. But still, it makes you look at her paintings of children in a different way. Correggio was not the only painter who had inspired Cassatt. She met Edgar Degas in 1877 and he became the greatest influence on her artistic career. They had a stormy and productive relationship that lasted 40 years but they weren't romantically involved. Although there had been speculations. It was Degas who suggested she'd join the Impressionist exhibition of 1877. By 1880, Cassatt was an acknowledged member of the Impressionist group and exhibited regularly in their shows, the only American painter who succeeded in doing this. Today's painting is one of her many depictions of a woman reading. I love the image and the colours!