Mary Cassatt

by Iain Zaczek

Overview

Mary Cassatt said, “There are two ways for a painter: the broad and easy one or the narrow and hard one.” Though born in Pennsylvania, Cassatt studied traditional art in Europe, but was eventually influenced by the Impressionists and Japanese prints. Full-color photographs of her works, including At the Opera, demonstrate her techniques, which readers can learn to emulate. Details and interesting trivia about her pieces are called out, such as the reason the figure in Young Woman Sewing in a Garden is wearing white. Cassatt wanted other colors to be reflected on it!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781482412192
Publisher:	Gareth Stevens Publishing
Publication date:	08/01/2014
Series:	Great Artists Series
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.15(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

Editorial Reviews

11/01/2014
Gr 3–5—These books organize biographical material around the artists' works. They offer practical tips in the "How to Paint Like…" chapters. The writing is clear but will not necessarily grab readers. For example, Zaczek writes that van Gogh "lost interest" in his work for a firm that sold art, a vague and incomplete explanation of his failure in the working world. This book uses cartoons ineffectively, belittling serious statements by putting them in comic book—like speech bubbles. The graphics may confuse readers, and it is difficult to determine the focus of some pages, since there is no hierarchy in the size of the sidebars. The statement that van Gogh's "first sign of mental illness" was during his residence with Gaugin seems inaccurate; diary entries from before this period certainly reveal depression. The craftsmanship of these texts seems rushed. Skip these titles.

School Library Journal