Art in a Mirror: The Counterproofs of Mary Cassatt

Long known for her endearing renderings of maternal imagery and for her exploration of the theme of 'modern woman', Mary Cassatt has not been properly recognised for her pioneering role in the Impressionist movement or for her often extensive experimentation in new artistic theories or mediums. This book reveals, for the first time, a large and previously unknown group of pastel counterproofs by Cassatt. These counterproofs, which are literally mirror images of her pastels, produced by taking an impression of that original on a second sheet of paper, were a novel enterprise. This book, produced in conjunction with an exhibition at Adelson Galleries in New York, includes plates of all fifty counterproofs in full colour as well as additional colour and black and white illustrations of related works and other material pertaining to Cassatt's career. Several essays explore this rarely studied medium and its place within a fruitful period of experimentation in pastel and colour printmaking among the art