Mary Cassatt is an excellent choice for your homeschool artist study. She is one of the few women Impressionists, and commonly portrays domestic scenes of women and children.
She was American by birth, but lived for much of her life in France, surrounded by the other great Impressionists of her day.
My nine year old daughter, Sprite, and I studied Cassatt for one term of her fourth grade year. In nine weeks we looked at about 25 of her works and slowly digested her unique style. Our method of studying each artist is distinctly Charlotte Mason in method. After studying the painting for a few minutes, Sprite verbally narrates it back to me. Every now and then we switch roles: I narrate and Sprite listens! It's quite simple and takes only a few minutes each day. But the results are impressive. She can easily identify a Cassatt now -- even one we haven't studied. When I gave her the quiz below, she correctly identified the Cassatt without any trouble.
For more about the basics of Charlotte Mason styled artist study, visit Artist Study Charlotte Mason Style
Cassatt Quiz
Look at these six paintings, all of a mother and child. Which one of them is by Cassatt? The answer is in the guestbook at the bottom of the page.
After you've done an artist study of Cassatt, let your children try the test. I'll bet they and you both will be able to identify her work!
Our Cassatt Spine
First Impressions: Mary Cassatt (First Impressions)
Amazon Price: (as of 01/08/2009)
Used Price: $1.05
This is the book we happened to use for our term long study of Mary Cassatt. Why this book? Simple answer -- I found it for a good price, used, at Half.com! From what I could tell in the description, it had a fair share of color prints. And I did find it adequate, especially for the price I paid. There were certainly enough large images of Cassatt's work to carry us through an entire term. I didn't even read most of the text. We just wanted to study the art itself.
Another Possible Cassatt Art Spine
Mary Cassatt: Oils and Pastels (Watson-Guptill Famous Artists)
Amazon Price: (as of 01/08/2009)
Used Price: $2.19
This book looks to me to be a better option than the one I used. It is primarily images, and that's exactly what you want for an artist study book -- loads of large, full color images.
If at all possible, go to a bookstore or library and LOOK at the book before you buy. Try to find a volume that has the most and biggest images and the least text.
Links to Works of Art
I'm a book in hand kind of person when it comes to homeschool, but you can do an entire artist study from the Internet!Olga's Gallery is a wonderful free resource! Some people choose to download the weekly image and then use it as a computer screensaver for that week. If you'd like to make your own choices or add to this list of twelve, visit Olga's Cassatt gallery (be sure to go on to page 2 for all of them).
These twelve works of art will offer a good sampling of Mary Cassatt's style and subjects.
1. Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1878
2. Miss Mary Ellison, c. 1880
3. The Loge, 1882
4. Two Children at the Seashore, 1884
5. Girl Arranging Her Hair, 1886
6. Child in a Straw Hat, c. 1886
7. Portrait of an Elderly Lady, c. 1887
8. Woman with a Red Zinnia, 1891
9. The Boating Party, 1893/1894
10. Sara in a Green Bonnet, c. 1901
11. The Bath, c. 1893
12. Portrait of Alexander Cassatt and His Son Robert, 1885
Look at one work of art each week for nine to twelve weeks, looking at the piece and narrating it back verbally. Alternatively, a child can do a drawn narration at times.
Of course, if at all possible, go see some of Cassatt's works in a museum or exhibit. A year before studying Cassatt, we were fortunate enough to see one of her works in Memphis, TN.
"There's only one thing in life for a woman; it's to be a mother.... A woman artist must be ... capable of making primary sacrifices."
---- Mary Cassatt
Making our Own Cassatt
I participate right alongside my daughter. Why? Mainly because I think it's plain interesting and fun! But it also helps us to bond as we spend time together working on projects. When I open myself up to her suggestions, she is likewise more apt to receive mine. So here's my humble version of A Little Girl in a Blue Armchair with the original underneath.
Suzette and the Puppy
Suzette and the Puppy: A Story About Mary Cassatt (Young readers)
Amazon Price: $11.24 (as of 01/08/2009)
A picture book introducing the famous painting.
Help From Other Homeschooling Moms
- In the Sparrow's Nest -- Mary Cassatt
- Melissa blogs about Charlotte Mason homeschooling from In the Sparrow's Nest. She shares how they did some tempura prints as part of their Mary Cassatt artist study. This is a great project!
- Impressionists Coop
- Dana blogs about their homeschool coop in which they experimented in impressionistic methods -- some involving FOOD! Scroll to the bottom of the entry for a printmaking activity relating to Cassatt.
- Mary Cassat Art Appreciation
- Eloise shares how she introduced Cassatt to her son and daughter. There are some practical tips and some lovely images here!
More About Mary Cassatt & Her Art
- Mary Cassatt at the National Gallery of Art
- A short biographical tour and ten thumbnail paintings.
- Cassatt Slideshow
- This is a pleasure for the eyes -- a slideshow of Cassatt's art from MaryCassat.org.You can slow or pause the slideshow, and the title of each work is given.
Mary Cassatt at YouTube
Smart About Art Series
Mary Cassatt: Family Pictures (Smart About Art)
Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 01/08/2009)
Used Price: $2.17
I love the Smart about Art Series! Told is such an engaging style, full of facts and pictures, these books are worth placing in your home library.
Mary Cassatt said
"I have touched with a sense of art some people - they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist?"
Cassatt Printables
- Mary Cassatt Notebooking Page
- This page (shown to the right) includes three black and white line drawings of her paintings, suitable for coloring with pencils.
- Four Coloring Pages
- These open in Microsoft Word. Titles include: Mother Combing, Mother Sewing, The Bath, and The Boating Party.
- Artist Biography Form
- This is a general form that could be used with any artist, Mary Cassatt included. Compliments of Homeschool with Index Cards.
- Notebooking Pages Free Art Resources
- This link will take you to some general art freebies that you can use for Mary Cassatt.
- The Boating Party B&W Outline
- A simple outline for helping a child create a reproduction.
Color Your Own Cassatt Paintings
Color Your Own Mary Cassatt Masterpieces (Coloring Books)
Amazon Price: $4.95 (as of 01/08/2009)
Used Price: $0.07
For a discussion of using coloring books in a Charlotte Mason education, visit Barb's post Art Appreciation Using Dover Coloring Books.
This is a Dover Coloring Book. You'll be impressed with the detail in the image and the quality of the paper.
Other Cassatt Books
Guestbook and Answer to the Quiz
Painting D is the Mary Cassatt painting among the examples above.
The others are as follows:
A Carl Larsson A Studio Idyll
B Gari Melchers Mother and Child
C Sanzio Raphael The Small Cowper Madonna
E Jean Baptiste Camille Corot Mother and Child
F Pablo Picasso Mother and Child
I hope that our experiences with a Cassatt artist study were helpful to you. I welcome your comments. If you've blogged about a Cassatt artist study, please share a link here!
Tanya wrote
Amazing job putting all of this together! It is wonderful that you are willing to share your wisdom and experience with the rest of us. Thank you!
Posted December 23, 2008
Cindy wrote
We're studying Cassatt in January. This is an excellent resource (as usual!) I'm going to add it to my January's Artist sidebar.
Thanks for taking the time to put together such wonderful helps!
Cindy
http://ourjourneywestward.com
Posted December 21, 2008
groovyoldlady wrote...
I was right...HA! Excellent lens. Makes me feel like doing some sketching. Do you think my stick figures will one day be famous?
Posted November 22, 2008
Makita wrote
Another wonderful Lens! Thank you, Jimmie.
:D
Posted November 11, 2008
lakeerieartists wrote...
Gorgeous lens. Great job. I loved the children's pictures the best.
Posted November 06, 2008
WendyKrick wrote...
Hey I guessed right. Not only did I think d was it but I just love that painting. This was a wonderful lens. Great Job. 5 stars!
Posted November 05, 2008
Dana wrote
Great page!!! We haven't studied Mary Cassatt by herself, but we did study her along with the Impressionists. I searched my site for "cassatt" and found 3 entries (http://alexml.blogspot.com/search?q=cassatt).
One of them is a Cassatt we saw in Colorado.
The 2nd one shows "We also talked about how Mary Cassatt was greatly influenced by Japanese prints. She even had her own printing press! So, we made some prints by etching into some kind of foam paper with a stylus, painting the foam paper one color, and then making a print."
And, the 3rd included some Impressionist resources.
I want to study Cassatt all by herself after reading your page! :-)
Dana
Posted November 04, 2008
Eloise wrote
Hi Jimmie
Our Cassatt study was one of our favourites! You can go and see what we did at http://www.fun-learning-activities-for-children.com/cassatt.html if you like.
Lovely lens! I am going to see if my two can pick out the Cassatt tomorrow. :-)
Blessings
Eloise
Posted November 04, 2008
Other Artists
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Monet Artist Study
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Hello! I am a homeschooling mom who loves to teach and learn.
