One of the few women Impressionists, Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) had a life of paradoxes: American born, she lived and worked in France; a classically trained artist, she preferred the company of radicals; never married, she painted exquisite and beloved portraits of mothers and children. This book provides new insight into the personal life and artistic endeavors of this extraordinary woman.
“Brilliant, lively life of long lived American Impressionist.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Rich in historical and archeological detail, thoroughgoing in its resurrection of the contexts and conditions of Cassatt’s life as an artist.”—Carol Armstrong, New York Times Book Review
“Mathews informatively and entertainingly documents Cassatt’s tumultuous relations with various members of both the American and Parisian avant-garde. . . . An impressive biography.”—Siri Huntoon, New York Newsday
 “A superb piece of scholarship.”—Ruth Johnstone Wales, Christian Science Monitor 
 “In this admirable biography, art historian Mathews . . . presents a compelling portrait of this contradictory woman.”—Publishers Weekly
 “Authoritative, unsentimental, clear as a bell, this is a model of the new biography by and about talented women.”—Kennedy Fraser
 “This will probably be the definitive biography for our generation.”—John Wilmerding, Princeton University

Mary Cassatt: A Life

Arts & Photography

Mathews, Nancy Mowll

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

In this penetrating and daring biography of Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), Nancy Mowll Mathews traces the themes of sex and violence through the artist's life, from the near-murderous quarrels of his grandparents, to his abusive treatment of his wife, to his sexual encounters in French Polynesia in the 1890s. The book examines how Gauguin used these complex themes in his art and writings and how he carefully presented his "erotic life" in the autobiographical treatises "Noa Noa" (1893) and "Avant et Après" (1903). The central drama of Gauguin's adulthood--his marriage to Mette Gad Gauguin--is assessed in detail, and with the inclusion of some of Mette's previously unpublished letters, both sides of the Gauguin marriage are presented for the first time. Mathews also provides fascinating new insights into understanding Gauguin's relationships with men and women and the roles that sexuality and aggression played in shaping his art. She also illuminates his homosocial, if not homoerotic, relationships with Vincent van Gogh, Emile Schuffenecker, and Charles Filiger. Gauguin's genius resided not only in his forging of new artistic paths, Mathews concludes, but in his ability to bring his sexual fantasies alive for a large audience.

Paul Gauguin: An Erotic Life

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Book by Martindale, Meredith, Moffat, Pamela, Mathews, Nancy Mowll

Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist

Martindale, Meredith

Moffat, Pamela

Cross River

First edition. With a foreword by the Director of the Williams College Museum of Art, who produced this exhibition. Contains an appendix, bibliography, index, a list of lenders to the exhibition, and photography credits. Laid-in is a small card of errata, as well as a page with the print of "Mother's Kiss" on it, torn out of a magazine. Contains many color and black-and-white prints of Cassatt's works. Minor wear. 207 pages. cloth, dust jacket. 4to..

Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints

Sharpiro, Barbara Stern

Harry N.Abrams, Inc.

Book by Mathews, Nancy Mowll, Shapiro, Barbara Stern

Shapiro, Barbara Stern

Individual Artists

Mary Cassatt

Community & Culture

The Easton Press

Catalogue of the exhibition at Williams College Museum of Art (entitled "Beauties . . . of a Quiet Kind"), August 1993-January 1994. Foreword by Linda Shearer; additional essay by Marion M. Goethals; catalogue entries by Vivian Patterson and others.

The Art of Charles Prendergast: From the Collections of the Williams College Museum of Art and Mrs. Charles Prendergast

University of Pennsylvania Press

The Art of Leisure: Maurice Prendergast in the Williams College Museum of Art

Williams College Museum of Art

Prendergast, Maurice Brazil

Prendergast, Eugenie

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

This publication explores the complex relationship between American art and early film. Depicting turn-of-the-century photographs, film stills, posters, prints and paintings, the struggle between art and film is shown to both polarise and inspire the artists of the era. (With DVD)

Moving Pictures: American Art and Early Film, 1880-1910

Hudson Hills

Book by Clark, Carol, Mathews, Nancy Mowll, Owens, Gwendolyn

Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonne. the Maurice and Charles Prendergast Systematic Catalogue Project (Art & Design)

Clark, Carol

Owens, Gwendolyn

Prestel Pub

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Books by Mathews, Nancy Mowll