Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, and the Art of Parisian Chic: A Lecture and Book Signing with Justine De Young

Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot had mastered the art of Parisian chic, aligning their dress, appearance, and behavior in line with expectations of the time. They depicted their female subjects as individuals and with particular attention to fashion, unlike the often stereotypical paintings of their male peers. Looking at a rich array of visual sources – from portraits to modern-life paintings, and from photographs to fashion plates – Professor Justine De Young in this lecture will reveal how women were seen, how they aspired to be seen, and how they navigated public life in Second Empire and Belle Époque Paris. A book signing will follow.

Dr. Justine De Young, Associate Professor of the History of Art at the Fashion Institute of Technology, is the editor of Fashion in European Art: Dress and Identity, Politics and the Body, 1775-1925 (Bloomsbury 2019) and the author of The Art of Parisian Chic: Modern Women and Modern Artists in Impressionist Paris (Bloomsbury 2025).

$12.50 member / $15 non-members.