Saturday, May 22, 2010

Mary Cassatt: American Woman Artist

Mary Cassatt is most famous for her paintings of children with their mother. She also painted upscale society. Her compositions are daring and exhibit specific details. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1860 to 1865.

Next, she traveled to Holland, Spain, Italy, and France concentrating on and coping the work of the Old Masters; in 1874 she put her roots down in Paris. She and Edgar Degas developed a friendship and he asked her to show her work with the Impressionists. From 1979 to 1886, she participated in four exhibits with the "painters of light." Her early paintings were executed with the light and shadow style and the ethereal effect of the Impressionists.

In 1891, she produced wonderful dry-point prints that were motivated by her fondness for Japanese art. With this collection, she plowed her own road in the art world, stepping away from the Impressionist and distinguishing her own style. Her work features clear lines and soft colors.

In the middle of her career, she began to draw and paint in a classical manner, completing forms, and using three-dimensional technique. Her work was popular and sold well. When Cassatt was elderly, important figures, visited her at her countryside home, Château de Beaufresne, situated on the outskirts of Paris.

Mary Cassatt Paintings

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