New Mary Cassatt Exhibit Beautifully Celebrates Motherhood

Like every major art movement of the 19th Century, Impressionism was definitively dominated by men, with the likes of Monet, Manet, Renoir and Pissarro even now still taking up the most museum space, and being lavished with marquee exhibitions (to wit, 'The Impressionism Revolution: Monet to Matisse', which is currently on show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts). Yet Berthe Morisot was acknowledged from the start as a founding member of the group, and had her work prominently featured in the infamous First Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1874.

Perhaps even more well known today is Mary Cassatt, who was actually American (born in Allegheny, PA in 1844), though lived most of her adult life in France. She notably struck up a friendship with Edgar Degas, who invited her to join the group, leading to her work being included in several major Impressionist exhibits of the time.

She stood distinctly apart from her contemporaries, however, by way of her primary subject matter, which was mothers and children. No surprise, then, that the stunning new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, 'Mary Cassatt: After Impressionism', is a veritable tribute to arguably humanity's most primal bond.

As the title suggests, it is focused on the years following Impressionism's final group show in 1886. What is perhaps most surprising is that Mary Cassatt never had children of her own; but surely the deeply close relationship she shared with her own mother was a great influence. Katherine Kelso Johnston Cassatt was in fact an impressively educated woman who encouraged her daughter's own studies, even moving to Paris with her when Mary was 22.

A pair of particularly touching paintings included in the exhibit, 'The Reading Lesson' and 'The Banjo Lesson', do indeed pay respect to arguably a mom's most under-appreciated job - that of enriching her children's lives with culture. In fact, the daughter depicted in the latter work seems so utterly enraptured by perhaps not just her mother's musical talent, but also by her generosity in sharing it. It's hard to think of another painting that radiates so much love between mother and child.

Nearly as emotionally captivating are 'Child Picking a Fruit' and the straightforwardly titled 'The Family', the latter featuring a brother and sister sharing sweetly adoring glances. Though non-related caretakers are not forgotten here, with the lushly painted 'Children in a Garden (The Nurse)' keenly reminding of Cassatt's enduringly Impressionist artistic soul.

There is never not a good time to be reminded of how much our mothers mean to us when we're growing up (and almost as much when we're actually grown up). Though Cassatt was herself childless, she took a profound happiness from being able to so exquisitely depict the beauty of motherhood, once remarking, "I have been able to touch people with my art - they have felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist?"

'Mary Cassatt: After Impressionism' will be on view at the Art Institute of Chicago through January 3, 2027. Do seriously considering seeing it, and most definitely bring along your mom and/or your kids for the experience.

Watch: The below video, produced by the Art Institute of Chicago, tells the fascinating story of Mary Cassatt accepting a commission in 1892 to paint a "monumental mural", fittingly titled 'Modern Woman', for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.