Critique du Library Journal

As this program demonstrates, Mary Cassatt was always independent. Born to a wealthy family near Philadelphia in 1844, she made her first trip to Europe at about age seven. As an adolescent, she studied art, but her talent soon outgrew the education available in America. At 21, Cassatt distressed her family by returning to Paris alone. Despite her talent, her work was not accepted by the Parisian art clique, partly because she was an American woman. Instead, Cassatt gained acceptance with the maverick independents of Paris, which included Edgar Degas. They became lifelong friends and artistic adventurers, though probably not lovers. Cassatt never married or had children, ironic since her signature paintings portray children with loving mothers attending to daily life. This program, which intersperses talks by Cassatt scholars with pictures of her, her family, her paintings, and her environs, has broad appeal, despite the background piano music, which eventually becomes annoying. Recommended for most school, academic, and public libraries.-Diane Kazlauskas, Univ. of North Florida Lib., Jacksonville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.