33: Mary Cassatt’s Lost Mural, “Modern Woman” 1893
In this month’s episode, we get into Mary Cassatt’s feminist mural and boy howdy is it a wild one!
We go on a wild romp through an overgrown orchard to suss out what the idea of ‘Eve’ REALLY means to us and how our perspective has shifted since investigating this mural.
We first discovered Mary’s mural through our interview with Emily A. Beeny last fall (check it out here) and became enamored with the concept as this was one of her most narrative works.
So this work has been percolating in our brains for several months now and you know we love us a good-ass mural around here.
You can check out the new ‘sode here:
YT VIDEO here
AUDIO ONLY HERE for you ear buddies
Known as the woman who painted women and babies (then and now), Mary Cassatt made a surprising move to accept a mural commission for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.
At first glance, it might just look like a crunchy painting of barefoot women harvesting fruit but there’s so much more to it!
This mural was commissioned to be installed in the first ever Women’s Building of the Fair, the theme being “Modern Woman”.
So where is it now?
Well, like we discussed in our Augusta Savage episode (available audio only), buildings and artwork made for World Fairs were torn down afterwards (ik wasteful, right?).
In Mary’s case, the mural was saved but as the years went by, it got lost and now it is thought to have been destroyed in a fire. Le sigh.
Back to the commission: this gig was a pretty big deal, especially if you were a younger artist- it could be a career-making move.
But when Mary, decades into her own art career, first received the invitation . . .
well, here’s what she had to say:
“When the committee offered it to me to do, at first I was horrified, but gradually I began to think it would be great fun to do something I had never done before and as the bare idea of such a thing put Degas into a rage and he did not spare every criticism he could think of, I got my spirit up and said I would not give up the idea for anything.”
So . . . maybe a little spite inspired this mural?
By the 1890s, Mary had been breaking social norms as a female painter since she was a teen - she was not afraid of a challenge.
Murals are large, labor intensive, and usually only done by men and she was ready to take it on even though she was almost 50 and had never attempted anything like this before.
But she had the means: Mary had been financially successful enough to buy her own house in the French countryside and would even build a trench for the painting the 58ft x 14ft mural to rest on while she used a ladder to better reach the higher sections.
Unfortunately, the only surviving images are grainy black and white photos but we can gather a sense of the color from works she painted around this time:
“Young Women Picking Fruit” (1891-2):
“Baby Reaching for an Apple” (1893):
The Family” (1893):
“Gathering Fruit” c. 1895, Drypoint print:
As a suffragette herself, Mary was interested in the contemporary idea of a ‘New Eve’: reclaiming her as a modern-day icon, bringing knowledge and equality to the world.
There have been countless depictions - good and bad (see below) - of Eve throughout art history and Mary wanted to add her take to the conversation.
Tempting a dopey-looking Adam: Lucas Cranach the Elder (1528):
Snake charming seductress in William Blake’s vision from 1799-1800:
Mary, likely thinking about her experience overcoming sexism in 19th century society and art world, as well as her involvement in the suffrage movement, envisioned a future where women and girls had the freedom to make decisions for themselves.
Mary’s Eves harvest fruit and pass it down to benefit everyone. . .
. . . Young Eves run through open fields sans shoes . . .
Or Eves are dancing, playing music and just chilling, just BEING, just observing.
Saying ‘No’ to corsets and ‘Yes’ to knowledge!
These ideas in Mary’s day were considered revolutionary yet we continue to fight for these rights in 2025.
It’s easy to write her off as simply the ‘Impressionist woman who painted babies’ but her work highlighted women’s labor in a way we hadn’t thought of before our dive into her work.
We’re really glad we got to revisit Mary Cassatt with this new perspective and hope it’s inspired you all to do the same.
If you watched/listened, let us know your thoughts!
This episode’s music is by Blear Moon and the album Love In Ruins
Our pantry of ‘Triptych’ is brought to you by artist, art educator and podcaster Klaire Lockheart. Check out her work here!
Magic Mind has helped us get our precious creative juices flowing - to give your brain some choice fuel, use ARTSLICE20 for 20-48% off your order!
If you missed our previous conversation with Emily A. Beeny about the Mary Cassatt ‘At Work’ exhibition last fall, we HIGHLY recommend watching it first for some more context:
If you missed our conversation on the Chilean multi-disciplinary artist and musician, Violeta Parra you can catch up here:
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We’re dropping a new tee design on theme with the episode that is actually rather timeless:
EVE FREED US
