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Thursday 25 February 2010

February's inspiration will come from the painting....

'The Bath' by Mary Cassatt

Use 'The Bath' as inspiration for your layout, card or OTP item.
This month you are free to interpret this painting in any way you choose.
I can see lots of inspiration from this painting.... kids in the bath, kids wrapped in towels, little girls washing dolls, spa baths, washing the dog etc...............just to give you a few ideas!!!

Now go forth and create!!!!!

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Here's a bit of information about Mary Cassatt

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) (pronounced /kəˈsæt/) was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists.

Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.

Cassatt was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, which is now part of Pittsburgh. She was born into favorable circumstances: her father, Robert Simpson Cassat (later Cassatt), was a successful stockbroker and land speculator, and her mother, Katherine Kelso Johnston, came from a banking family. The ancestral name had been Cossart.[1] Cassatt was a distant cousin of artist Robert Henri.[2] Cassatt was one of seven children, of which two died in infancy. Her family moved eastward, first to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, then to the Philadelphia area, where she began schooling at age six.

Cassatt grew up in an environment that viewed travel as integral to education; she spent 5 years in Europe and visited many of the capitals, including London, Paris, and Berlin. While abroad she learned German and French and had her first lessons in drawing and music.[3] Her first exposure to French artists Ingres, Delacroix, Corot, and Courbet was likely at the Paris World’s Fair of 1855. Also exhibited at the exhibition were Degas and Pissarro, both of whom would be her future colleagues and mentors.[4]

Even though her family objected to her becoming a professional artist, Cassatt began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the early age of fifteen.[5] Part of her parents' concern may have been Cassatt’s exposure to feminist ideas and the bohemian behavior of some of the male students. Although about 20% of the students were female, most viewed art as a socially valuable skill; few of them were determined, as Cassatt was, to make art their career.[6] She continued her studies during the years of the American Civil War. Among her fellow students was Thomas Eakins, later the controversial director of the Academy.

Impatient with the slow pace of instruction and the patronizing attitude of the male students and teachers, she decided to study the old masters on her own. She later said, “There was no teaching” at the Academy. Female students could not use live models (until somewhat later) and the principal training was primarily drawing from casts.

For more information on Mary Cassatt please view here.

TFL

Shazza


2 comments:

  1. Wow - what an awesome painting! Great challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very interesting, she obviously used here art as therapy, I love here painting.

    ReplyDelete