Mary Cassatt made a career painting the lives of the women around her. Her radical images showed them as intellectual, feminine and real, which was a major shift in the way women appeared in art. Presenting her astonishing prints, pastels and paintings, this film introduces us to the often-overlooked Impressionist whose own career was as full of contradiction as the women she painted.

She printed, sketched, and painted dozens of images of mothers and children yet she never married or had children herself. She was a classically trained artist but chose to join a group of Parisian radicals – the Impressionists – a movement that transformed the language of art. The world’s most eminent Cassatt curators and scholars help tell this riveting tale of great social and cultural change; a time when women were fighting for their rights and the language of art was completely re-written. Mary Cassatt and her modern women were at the heart of it all.

"I started my research on Mary Cassatt concerned that there might be too much cross-over with her story and work with that in our EOS films about the other Impressionists. I expected my biggest challenge to be finding a different narrative. It wasn’t long before I realised there was so much surprising, compelling and fascinating material on Cassatt that my challenge turned into being one of which storylines to edit out. Following the progression of Cassatt’s work revealed her meticulous study of Old Masters, traditional techniques and styles while also exposing her frustration at not finding a style that truly expressed her desire to be modern – until of course she encountered the Impressionists.
However, I discovered that Cassatt’s connection to the radical group is only a tiny part of her story. For me the way she painted and printed images of women led the way for a major shift in the way women appeared in art: as intellectual, feminine, maternal and real. This aspect of her story was brilliantly told by my interviewees including the world’s eminent Cassatt scholar Nancy Mowll Mathews. I have become a new Cassatt fan after working on this film"
Ali Ray, Director

[Not Available in Italy, Spain & Poland]