The ambitious experimentation of one of the most influential artists during her prime years in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was a trailblazing artist who worked across media, manipulated materials, transformed subjects through series and scale, and marketed and exhibited her artwork in novel ways. Primarily recognized as a key figure of Impressionism, she produced some of her most innovative work in the years after the eighth and final Impressionist group show in 1886.

Focusing on Cassatt’s iconic compositions from the late 1880s through the early 1900s, this volume includes an essay by Nicole R. Myers that situates Cassatt’s perceptive experiments across an array of modernist aesthetics, from Impressionism to Synthetism and Symbolism; a close examination by Gillian Marcus of numerous impressions of The Fitting (1890–91), one of Cassatt’s spectacular set of ten color prints made in collaboration with the printer Modeste Leroy; and an in-depth look by Annelise K. Madsen at Modern Woman, an immense mural painting commissioned for the Woman’s Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These scholars highlight Cassatt’s daring, ingenuity, and ceaselessly independent vision—both in her artistic technique and choice of subject matter—and consider the lasting impact of her aesthetic breakthroughs and significant legacy.

Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago

Exhibition Schedule:

Art Institute of Chicago
(September 6, 2026–January 3, 2027)