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Mary Cassatt letters

Archives of American Art

Cassatt, Robert and Minnie
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
Finding aid
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .

Object Details

sova.aaa.cassmarl
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b2da2e82-29bf-4448-b2d1-1542c583d94a
Creator
Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926
Names
Cassatt, Robert Kelso
Occupation
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Painters -- France -- Paris
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Printmakers -- France -- Paris
Topic
Women artists
Women painters
Women printmakers
Provenance
Items in this collection are gifts of various donors. The letters to Peter and Vollard were donated by Charles Feinberg in 1955. The letters to William T. Evans, Miss Lamb, and Miss Stillman were transferred from the National Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution in 1980. An obituary and the letters to Robert Kelso Cassatt and his wife Minnie were donated by Alexander J. Cassatt Jr., the great nephew of Mary Cassatt, in 1986. The letters written by Cassatt to Eugene Vail and Mabel and Mathilde Valet were loaned by Ann Donohue and microfilmed on reel N/70-077 and were returned to the lender after filming.
Creator
Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926
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Mary Cassatt letters
Sponsor
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Summary
This collection of painter Mary Cassatt letters measures 0.2 linear feet and date from 1882-1926. The bulk of the letters are to Cassatt's nephew, Robert Kelso Cassatt, and to his wife Minnie regarding family, mutual friends, and travel. The remaining letters are to friends regarding purchases of artwork, travel, and personal news. There is also one news clipping of Cassatt's obituary.
Biographical / Historical
Painter Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) lived and worked in Paris, France. She is one of the preeminent Impressionists known for her depictions of both the social and domestic lives of women and their children. Cassatt was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania and began her art studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts at the age of sixteen. In 1865, she traveled to Paris to further her art studies under the private tutelage of Jean-Léon Gérôme and Thomas Couture, and augmented these studies with daily copying at the Louvre. From 1868 to 1877, she traveled to Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Holland to view and copy the old masters and produced works that were accepted into the Paris Salon. With the encouragement of Edgar Degas, Cassatt began painting in the avant-garde Impressionist style in 1877. For the next ten years, Cassatt exhibited Impressionist paintings to critical international acclaim. After 1887, she began to experiment with other mediums and techniques, though she continued to focus her subject matter on the lives of women and children. Through the 1890s, she became a mentor to young American artists, acted as an advisor to American art collectors, and served as an ambassador for various art institutions. In 1904, she received France's Légion d'Honneur and continued producing works through the 1900s. In 1915, Cassatt stopped painting due to her failing eyesight, and lived in Le Mesnil-Théribus, France until her death in 1926.
Extent
0.2 Linear feet
1 Microfilm reel
Date
1882-1926
Archival Repository
Archives of American Art
Identifier
AAA.cassmarl
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Citation
Mary Cassatt letters, 1882-1926. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 1 series. Series 1: Mary Cassatt letters, 1892-1926 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Processing Information
Each acquisition was preliminarily processed and microfilmed separately onto reels D8, 2787, and 3684. All materials were merged, processed, and described by Judy Ng in 2014 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Material loaned for microfilming on N/70-077 (and returned to Ann Donohue after filming) was added to the finding aid by Jayna Josefson in 2025 and the microfilm was digitized in 2025 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Information System (CIS) IRM Pool Fund.
Rights
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Existence and Location of Copies
This collection was digitized in its entirety in 2014 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website. Materials lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reel N70-77. The microfilm has been digitized and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
Existence and Location of Originals
Material lent for microfilming (reel N70-77) by Ann Donohue was returned to the lender after filming.
Scope and Contents
This collection of painter Mary Cassatt letters measures 0.2 linear feet and date from 1882-1926. The bulk of the letters are to Cassatt's nephew, Robert Kelso Cassatt, and to his wife Minnie regarding family, mutual friends, and travel. The remaining letters are to friends regarding purchases of artwork, travel, and personal news. There is also one news clipping of Cassatt's obituary.
Restrictions
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds the Frederick A. Sweet research material on Mary Cassatt and James McNeill Whistler; Nancy Hale research material on Mary Cassatt; the Mary Cassatt collection (reel C1); and the Mary Cassatt correspondence with Emily Sartain (reel 3658).
AAA.cassmarl
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b2da2e82-29bf-4448-b2d1-1542c583d94a
AAA.cassmarl
AAA
Record ID
ebl-1503512333623-1503512333627-0

Showing 9 result(s)

  • Images 8 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Archival materials 9 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Microfilm reels 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1880s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1890s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1910s 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1920s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Mary Cassatt letters 9 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Mary Cassatt letters / Series 1: Mary Cassatt Letters 8 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
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Clear facet(s):

Included:

  • Remove Date: 1900s close
  • Cassatt, Robert and Minnie

  • Vollard

  • Cassatt, Robert and Minnie

  • Peter (surname unknown)

  • Cassatt, Robert and Minnie

  • Cassatt, Robert and Minnie

  • Mary Cassatt Letters

  • Cassatt, Robert and Minnie

  • Cassatt, Robert and Minnie

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