THE TIMES:
THE ARTIST: Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) American Impressionist Painter
When Mary was a teenager the United States of America began work on a transcontinental railroad, one that would stretch all the way across the continent. At this time huge numbers of bison still roamed free throughout the American West. No one had yet heard of a telephone. Gas lamps still lit the streets of cities in the East. At the age of 22 she traveled to Paris France, known as “the City of Light” because of its many gas lamps, beautiful new buildings, and outdoor cafés. Paris had been rebuilt in order to help people forget the awful results of the French Revolution and turmoil of its recent past. Mary had come to study the old European master works, but to her delight French painters were not copying the past. They boldly painted in an entirely new way. Bright, fresh new colors were applied in loose strokes. Their way of painting was more immediate too. Instead of carefully planning out compositions and making a dark underpainting*, many Impressionists applied paint in dabs, lines, and thick layers. They started with white cloth canvas. They worked outdoors instead of indoors. Mary had arrived in Europe just in time to meet the Impressionists! *Underpainting i s a method used since the 1300’s in which the arrangement and figures were painted onto the surface and the values of dark to light painted in detail. Color was then applied in layers over the underpainting in glazes or thin washes.
Mary Cassatt was recognized as a master artist during her lifetime. Born in America, her family moved to Europe for a time, then back to America. Cassatt studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the oldest art school in America. As an adult, she bravely decided to leave her family and to study art in Europe at a time when women did not travel without male companionship. She became a friend to artists in France within a group called Impressionists. She painted scenes of mothers and children in daily activities and gave us a view into what women did in that period. Sewing and caring for children were some of her themes. One of the most valuable contributions she made to America was to encourage wealthy American patrons to purchase Impressionist work. In this way she was helping her friends sell their work and because of her we have many Impressionist works within our American art museums. MAKE AN OBSERVATION DRAWING! Compile a list of activities that require the figure to bend such as running, hopping, swinging, kneeling, or dancing. Have someone act these things out for you as you draw what you see. These may be very quick sketches.
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