Cassatt, Mary Stevenson (French-American, 1844-1926). Original and antique lithograph print from the early 1900's. “Sara Wearing Her Bonnet and Coat.” Lithograph created c. 1904. Signed lower right Mary Cassatt. Arches watermark. In good condition, not laid or glued down, small amount of old paper tape at top attached to the sheet. Full sheet size measures 24 ” x 18 15/16”, or 63 cm. x 48 cm. Image size measures 23” x 17 ”. Frame measures 34” x 28”.

From Askart: Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt is best known for her mother and child compositions and also for her color prints, based on Japanese woodblock techniques and that combined drypoint, etching, and aquatint. From 1890, she had her own printing press at her home. Born in 1844 in Allegheny City (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, she was recognized by the turn of the century as one of the preeminent painters both of her native country and of France, which she made her permanent home in 1875. Here she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists.

From Askart excerpt of bio by Jean Ershler Schatz: Cassatt herself was truly modern for her time. An automobile enthusiast, she bought a Renault in 1906. She was also a vegetarian for a while. She attended seances and, while not a particularly religious woman in the conventional sense, she was interested in Spiritualism. The movement was a perfect fit: It preached equality of the sexes and placed high value on children. Cassatt never married, but she lived a full family life until her death in 1926. Her parents, sisters, nephews and nieces were always visiting her villa on the Riviera, her Paris flat, or chateau near Beauvais. Even in her old age, she had a prim, acerbic wit; she found Monet too unintelligent, criticized Renoir's lusty art as too "animal", and scorned the generation of the cubists as "cafe loafers." She could also be generous. As she never lacked for money (her brother became president of the Pennsylvania Railroad), she quietly lent much of it to Paris Dealer Durand-Ruel to help back the Impressionists and sold Pissaro (of whom she said "he could have taught stones to draw correctly") at her tea parties. She was largely responsible for the Havemeyer collection, which stocked New York's Metropolitan Museum with many of its great El Greco's, Manets, Courbets and Corots. "Woman's vocation in life," she once said,"is to bear children." She produced hundreds of children, but they were all on canvas. Around 1910 she began to go blind and had to curtail her work. She died on June 14, 1926 at Chateau de Beaufresne, near Paris.