Mary Cassatt ⁽²⁾

Mary Cassatt, the First Lady of Intimate Moments, was an American painter and printmaker whose works made viewers feel like they were peeking into the softer side of life—like eavesdropping on a mother-child cuddle session, but in oil paints.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1844, Cassatt quickly realized that the world of ladylike pursuits wasn’t for her. Instead of perfecting the art of embroidery or sipping tea in silence, she packed her bags and declared, “I’m off to Paris!” (Okay, maybe she didn’t say it quite like that, but it makes a better story.) Once in France, she fell in with the Impressionists, a rowdy bunch of art rebels who thought light and color were more exciting than stiff portraits of nobility.

Cassatt specialized in painting mothers and their children—think bedtime stories, bath time, and moments so tender they make your heart ache. But she wasn’t sentimental about it. Cassatt once said, "There’s only one thing as precious as a child’s laugh—getting it to hold still long enough to paint it." (Alright, she didn’t actually say that, but she might’ve thought it.)