Mary Cassatt: The Life of an Artist ANNOTATION
Discusses the life and the work of the Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Mary Cassatt is considered one of the greatest Impressionist painters of all time. Instead of the dark colors and precise details that had been common in portrait painting, the Impressionists used light colors and quick brush strokes to give the viewer a quick impression of what something looked like at one particular moment. Cassatt is best known for her relaxed style and for her images of mothers and children. She became famous at a time when it was unusual for women to become artists. In Mary Cassatt: The Life of an Artist, author Carolyn Casey tells the story of Cassatt's life and art and how they affected the world around her.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Wesley Jernigan
This book is one of the "Artist Biographies" series dealing mainly with artists of the twentieth century, though Mary Cassatt produced most of her work in the last half of the 1800's. Cassatt's work is not as well known as other impressionists such as Monet and Renoir and it is good to see a children's book dealing with her career. Seven chapters deal in turn with her early life, her struggle to gain entry to an art world dominated by men, her life in the art world of late nineteenth century Paris, her mingling with the great impressionists of that time, and their influence on the development of her own style. Her engagement of women's issues of the time and her later life are also sketched. Her particular artistic relationship to Degas is well illustrated, and the influence of Japanese prints on her own prints is made clear. This book is worthy of the classroom and the library despite the fact that there is a bit too much text and too little illustration. In 48 pages there are only 13 pages with illustrations of Cassatt's work and only two of those are full-page. Her color, sense of light, composition, and gentle subject matter should be given a stronger role in a book like this. Let the art speak for itself. A timeline of Cassatt's life, a glossary, and Internet sources are given at the back. 2004, Enslow Publishers Inc, Ages 10 up.
Art & Photography
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