10 Paintings: Mary Cassatt Trivia Quiz

Answer: Post-Impressionism

Impressionism was concerned with many things, but perhaps the most important were the departure from strict forms and topics and a focus towards the natural. Instead of painting familiar religious and historical scenes, Impressionists captured scenes as they appeared in the contemporary. Because painting as a means of living was only attainable by the rich, this often meant that Impressionist paintings featured scenes of bourgeoise leisure.

Post-Impressionism fought back a bit against the idea that everything had to be so natural or realistic, instead allowing for more geometric shapes. Such strokes and styles can be seen in Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" and in the advent of pointillism.

Answer: Japanese woodcuts

Japonisme is the nineteenth-century Western fascination with Japanese art and culture after that country was opened up to international trade. French artists often looked for inspiration from the art that was now available to the West.

In terms of "The Child's Bath", art historians look toward a woodcut print done by Kitagawa Utamaro titled "Bathtime". Soon before painting "The Child's Bath", Cassatt did a drypoint etching, very stylized in Japanese u-kiyo fashion, of a mother bathing her child that looked similar to the Japanese master's woodcut.

Answer: True

Degas was an influential artist in France, so when Mary Cassatt submitted "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" to an American art exhibition and it was rejected, the artist was irate. She wrote a letter explaining how Degas himself had even set his brush to it.

Modern infrared imaging on the painting shows how Degas guided the other painter. Firstly, he changed the angle of the room so that it included more depth. Secondly, the infrared imaging picked up an alternative location for the dog, which had previously been on the floor in the background as opposed to sitting on the chair next to the girl.

Answer: In an opera house

A "loge" is a balcony or private box in a theater or opera house. Of course, in Mary Cassatt's time, movies had not yet been invented. The subject of "In the Loge" holds up her opera glasses to better see the show, while a man in the background holds up his glasses to better see the subject.

Answer: The woman and the girl were not related to each other.

Cassatt was interested in feminist ideals, even though it may seem that her art depicts women in traditionally feminine roles. Yet, the very fact that Cassatt was able to portray women performing everyday tasks was in itself rare in the art world. She elevated these scenes, increasing the visibility of mothers.

Art scenes containing mothers and their children often took their cues from the theme of the Madonna and her child with the child on or near its mother's lap. Mary Cassatt followed in that tradition, yet her paintings also often had a twist; in this one, the mother's attention isn't on her child at all.

Answer: Women's suffrage movement

In the nineteenth century, the sunflower was a symbol of the women's suffrage movement, and its use was encouraged by famous suffragists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Though painted in 1905, the painting was included in a 1915 exhibition that raised money for the women's suffrage movement.

Answer: en plein air

Many Impressionist painters promoted the idea of painting outdoors, often where the landscape could be taken in and used as a model. This followed the Impressionist belief that art should show that which looks natural.

Mary Cassatt was unique in the sense that her Impressionist paintings typically followed the techniques and style of the other artists in this movement, but her scenes were very domestic. She didn't often paint "en plein air", but this scene in the garden with her sister was an exception.

Answer: The Cup of Tea

The women in Cassatt's paintings didn't truly get up to anything as exciting as drinking absinthe, and they were typically painted in respectable, homely scenes. Cassatt's paintings often showed indoor scenes since the women of her time weren't often allowed to go outside by themselves.

Answer: The background shows the reflection of a giant mirror.

Cassatt's paintings never ventured into the supernatural; in fact, Impressionist paintings by definition rarely did. Instead, "Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge" simply shows a young woman who has gone to an opera house.

Behind the woman, you can see the reflection of her back, but the whole background is meant to be a giant mirror reflecting the opera house. You are invited to see exactly what the woman is looking at in front of her. Both you and the woman are looking at the same thing.

Answer: Edgar Degas

Mary Cassatt was very much influenced by her friend, Edgar Degas. They were so close that they would study art in the Louvre together. Cassatt seemed to agree with his philosophy in that she painted similar scenes again and again until they were perfected.

Cassatt and Degas did have some differences of opinion; for example, it is said that Degas held antifeminist views. When her paintings were being displayed at an exhibition alongside Degas' in support of women's suffrage, Cassatt mused that her friend likely wouldn't have supported such an effort.