Allies in Art

An exhibition explores the relationship between impressionists Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot

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Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Summertime, 1894. Oil on canvas, 39%, x 32 in. Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL, 1988.25, Photo courtesy of Terra Foundation for American Art.

French artist Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) was a prominent member of the founding impressionists alongside Monet, Renoir, Degas and Pisarro. A student of Corot and muse of Édouard Manet (whose brother, Eugène, she would marry), Morisot enjoyed her position as the first and, for their first three exhibitions, only female impressionist, until an American rival arrived on the scene in the form of Mary Cassatt.

When Cassatt was invited to show her work in the group's fourth exhibition by Degas, Morisot was not exactly pleased.

Through 43 artworks, an exhibition at the Fenimore Museum of Art titled Mary Cassatt / Berthe Morisot: Allies in Impressionism explores the artists' relationship from its rocky beginnings in the 1870s to the close friendship that had formed between them by the 1890s.

“Cassatt and Morisot were thrust together due to their involvement in the Impressionist movement,” explains Ann H. Cannon, curator of American art at the Fenimore. "Cassatt and Morisot started as acquaintances, but soon moved into friendship so to speak. Cassatt would often write to Morisot, sending kind regards to her daughter, Julie. There are anecdotes passed down by Julie of Cassatt visiting the Morisot home at rue de Ville just after horseback riding in the Bois de Boulogne. Cassatt also earned one of the coveted invitations to Morisot's famous Thursday night dinners, to which the who's who of the artistic and literary Parisians were invited. After viewing an exhibition of Japanese Prints together at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1890 we see their relationship take off from an artistic standpoint, but it's fascinating to read the surviving correspondences and get a sense of their distinct personalities.