The Banjo Lesson

Art Historical Context

Mary Cassatt’s “The Banjo Lesson,” created around 1893, is a delicate print that captures a quiet moment of musical instruction. An American artist closely tied to the Impressionist circle, Cassatt frequently depicted women and children in everyday settings, using printmaking to explore light, line, and intimate domestic scenes. This work, now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, reflects her interest in the subtle bonds formed through shared activities such as learning music. The image centers on a female student with a banjo, highlighting themes of education and companionship that recur in Cassatt’s art. As a graphic arts print, it demonstrates the artist’s skill with techniques that allowed her to reach wider audiences while experimenting with composition and tone. In the late nineteenth century, such prints helped bring personal, relatable moments into public view. Visitors today can appreciate how Cassatt elevated ordinary lessons into subjects worthy of artistic attention, offering a warm glimpse of cultural life in the 1890s.

About the Artist

Mary Cassatt · 1844–1926

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter and printmaker who became the only American artist to exhibit with the French Impressionists. Born to a wealthy Pennsylvania family, she defied social conventions to pursue art professionally, settling permanently in Paris where Edgar Degas invited her to join the Impressionist group in 1877. Her paintings of mothers and children—rendered with Impre...