Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt were both leading figures in the Impressionist movement, lauded by their peers and critics alike. Morisot was one of the founding members of the group. Her enigmatic portrayal of the Parisian woman, combined with her revolutionary experiments with the concept of ‘finished’ and ‘unfinished’ in her painting, made her one of its most adventurous spirits. Cassatt had the distinction of being the only American to exhibit with the Impressionists. Her uniquely modernist interpretations of traditional themes such as the mother and child brought her international recognition.

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However the radical nature of Morisot and Cassatt’s work was frequently ignored by critics who couldn’t see beyond their ‘feminine’ subject matter and later art historians would dismiss them as ‘secondary’ figures in the movement. Today, while their male contemporaries Monet, Manet, Degas and Renoir are household names, far fewer are familiar with Morisot or Cassatt. This year, two major exhibitions, at Musée National Des Beaux-Arts Du Québec and The Musée Jaquemart André, Paris, have sought to rectify that.