Meet Mary Cassatt, a trailblazing artist who defied limits at every turn. Her paintings of women and children are celebrated for their insights and emotional depth.
Here are three leadership lessons for our time from Cassatt’s transatlantic story —
1. Leadership is a way of life.
Cassatt celebrated the beauty of everyday life in her art, depicting intimate, authentic scenes of children and strong, wise mothers. She fought for women’s rights and helped other female artists, inspiring a generation of US artists to follow in her footsteps.
2. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Mary Cassatt’s crowd were the Impressionists, the rebels of their day. Riffing off the eclectic influences that surrounded her, she constantly experimented — pioneering new techniques with pastels and prints. She learned from Japanese traditions, inspiring a fascination and respect for these techniques among European circles.
3. Take the future into your hands.
Cassatt was skilled at promoting and selling, positioning her work in grand-scale exhibitions that were the Coachella of her day. She persuaded wealthy friends to buy and donate her works to museums, ensuring posterity, and broke visibly into the male-dominated art scene of her time. She also generously endorsed talented friends like John Singer Sargent.
In short, Mary Cassatt was an 1800s rockstar of the art world.
