The Art of Overcoming Adversity Is Found in an HBO Series

The year is 1878, and Mary Cassatt, an American painter living in Paris, is desperately trying to finish a new group of paintings in time for the prestigious Paris Salon. Cassatt receives a rather unwelcome surprise when her brother, his wife and their three rambunctious offspring arrive on her doorstep for a lengthy visit. What’s a struggling artist to do?

Equally unhappy about the visit is Cassatt’s 14-year-old niece, Katherine, who resents having to stay with her “old maid aunt” when she could be attending a series of upper-crust parties back home in Philadelphia. Her vulnerability hidden beneath a snobbish veneer, Katherine is secretly thrilled by the attention paid to her by Gilbert, a handsome but lowly servant boy. What’s a confused teen socialite to do?

Those answers are cleverly answered tonight in HBO’s “Mary Cassatt: American Impressionist,” the latest in the premium cable channel’s innovative series of family films titled “The Artists’ Specials.” Amy Brenneman (“NYPD Blue,” “Your Friends and Neighbors”) stars as Mary Cassatt and Charlotte Sullivan co-stars as Katherine Cassatt.

Created by David Devine and Richard Mozer, the CEO and chief financial officer, respectively, of Devine Entertainment Corp., the series represents the most recent offering from the small, Toronto-based production company. Its arts and educational TV specials are designed to cultivate self-esteem in young people.

Each of “The Artists’ Specials” centers around a life-altering encounter between a famous artist and a child, both of whom are at a personal or professional crossroads. Through the course of each story, not only do the artist and the child learn more about themselves and each other, one helps the other to overcome a series of difficulties and, ultimately, to succeed.

Devine and Mozer jointly produce and alternately direct the episodes. Last February, the series premiered with “Degas and the Dancer,” a story about Edgar Degas’ relationship with a young ballerina. Future episodes will focus on Rembrandt van Rijn, Francisco de Goya, Claude Monet and Winslow Homer.

So well-crafted, thoughtful and intelligent are these hourlong specials that parents are likely to enjoy them just as much as their kids. Although the programs seek to teach younger viewers that even the greatest artists faced major stumbling blocks on the road to success, adults will find many of their own quandaries reflected in the artists’ dilemmas.

Reached by phone in Bratislava, a province in the Slovak Republic where they are currently filming two more installments, Devine and Mozer note that all of the shows are historically accurate, the result of extensive research conducted before filming begins.

The featured artists in each episode are selected according to their impact on art history and their works’ accessibility to a general audience. “We’re focusing on landmark artists who really changed the way people saw the world, and changed the painting of the time,” says Mozer.

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Mary Cassatt was chosen because she was a strong, independent female artist and, as a bonus, was one of the few successful American Impressionists. Clearly, she was also a modern woman who was ahead of her time. As a result of Cassatt’s encounter with her nieces and nephew, the unmarried painter found a subject--children and family life--that was to occupy her paintings for the rest of her days.

Usually, the young person at the center of the story is a partly fictional creation but is based on a child that the artist actually knew. “We fictionalize the relationship at times,” Mozer explains, “but we always deal with the artist’s life in an accurate way. There has to be a part of each story where the character faces a conflict and must be able to persevere in order to preserve their artistic vision.

“Out of relationships that are true,” Mozer continues, “we build on the conflicts and fears that we think all kids have to work through: issues having to do with family, with their own identity and self-image, with self-reliance, honesty, and with feeling empowered to control their own lives and their own relationships.”

Devine and Mozer have created a number of other family-oriented “edu-tainment” series for HBO, including “The Composers’ Specials” (for which the episode “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” won an Emmy Award) and “The Inventors’ Specials,” each of which also portrayed meaningful interactions between children and heroic adult figures.

As a child, Devine spent countless hours enjoying classical music with his mother. Every Friday, mother and son would lay out a picnic lunch in front of the hi-fi, where they would listen to and discuss important composers. These cherished experiences with his mother shaped Devine’s own approach to educational television.

“She turned learning into fun, into a game,” Devine remembers warmly. “ ‘Learning’ and ‘education’ are words that are not often used in entertainment, but I find that the key to entertaining children is to educate their imaginations.”

Drawing on those memories, Devine says, his strategy is to use whimsy and humor to stimulate a child’s innate desire for knowledge. “Young people are smart and want to learn,” he explains.

Most of all, Mozer and Devine want children to learn that the power to overcome adversity and achieve their goals lies within themselves.

“What we’re trying to say to young people is that life is not a series of victories,” Devine explains. “Life is a series of comebacks. Everyone gets knocked down on the floor many times. Success is basically how many times you get up again and fight.”

* “Mary Cassatt: American Impressionist” airs at 7 tonight on HBO. The network has rated it TV-G (suitable for all ages).