Mary Cassatt’s artist style was intimate and often portrayed the everyday lives of women, especially highlighting the nuanced relationships between mothers and their children.
Her wealthy upbringing played an important role in her ability to become a successful female artist in the 19th century. Cassatt’s family viewed education and traveling as integral to a child’s development.
At the time, female students were not allowed to draw from live models and were only given casts as references. She also felt patronized by the male students and lecturers.
From 1990, most of her work featured mother and child drawings, prints, and paintings, yet Cassatt never had children of her own.Over time, Cassatt increasingly valued simplicity in her work.