This image is by Mary Cassatt who, along with Berthe Morisot, was the leading female Impressionist. Which means what?
If we've established that Impressionism was an artistic interpretation of modernity, then didn't the sexes experience modernity differently?
There's enough evidence to say that they did without any doubt. The subtleties of the differing experiences can be exemplified by the image above and the image below.
Cassatt's image places women in a safe, regimented space, having a gentle cup of tea. Manet's bar-girl is in a chaotic public space, under the gaze of many men, each inebriated no doubt and looking for their own little adventure. She's bored, impassive and resigned. Cassatt's women are impassive but pensive, frustrated perhaps? But less tense, less on show.
Which is a more accurate depiction of a woman's lot in the second half of the nineteenth century in Paris?
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