Alexander J. Cassatt and His Son, Robert Kelso Cassatt

In December 1884, Alexander Cassatt and his young son Robert made an unannounced visit to Paris to see Alexander’s parents and his sister, the Impressionist Mary Cassatt. During their monthlong stay, father and son posed for a tender double portrait that highlights both their physical likeness and emotional bond. With matching gazes, flushed cheeks, and dark garments that visually link them, Mary captured a quiet, intimate moment between parent and child.

A leading American businessman, Alexander Cassatt served as first vice president and later president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, one of the world’s largest corporations at the time. By portraying him not as a public figure but as a devoted father at home, Mary shifted the focus from his professional stature to a more personal vision of fatherhood in the late 19th century.

P.S. Mary Cassatt not only captured tender family moments like this one but also transformed the story of French Impressionism itself. Learn more about her groundbreaking role—and the movement as a whole—in our French Impressionism Mega Course.

P.P.S. Today's artist was the only American to fully integrate with the French Impressionists. Here's a story of Mary Cassatt—the American Impressionist.