Mrs. Robert S. Cassatt, the Artist's Mother

This is the last in a series of portraits Mary Cassatt painted of her mother. Cassatt used the loose brushwork associated with Impressionism to portray her aging mother in a reflective pose. Mrs. Cassatt was a great supporter of her daughter’s career and moved with the artist to France in 1877. Mary Cassatt was the only woman to participate in the Fifth Impressionist Exhibition, held in Paris in 1880, an event that greatly furthered her career.