Mary Cassatt's Lost Feminist Mural from 1893 World's Fair
In 1893, Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt created a large-scale mural titled 'Modern Woman' for the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Commissioned to depict female progress, the triptych featured allegorical scenes of women pursuing knowledge, fame, and the arts. Cassatt's modern approach and feminist themes drew criticism from contemporaries including Edgar Degas. After the fair concluded, the central panel vanished and remains missing, with speculation it may have been destroyed in storage.
Key facts
- Mary Cassatt painted 'Modern Woman' mural for 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
- The 58x12 foot work was displayed in Chicago's Woman's Building
- Cassatt created the triptych partly to provoke critic Edgar Degas
- The mural presented allegorical scenes of women's intellectual and artistic pursuits
- The central panel disappeared after the fair and has never been located
Entities
Artists
- Mary Cassatt
- Mary Fairchild MacMonnies
- Edgar Degas
- Sandro Botticelli
Institutions
- Woman's Building
- World's Columbian Exposition
Locations
- Chicago, IL, USA