23c Mary Cassatt stamp

Many consider artist Mary Cassatt the greatest woman painter. She studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and in Europe, then opted to branch out on her own, copying the old masters. Her work so astonished Edgar Degas, the Impressionist master, that he persuaded Cassatt to exhibit her paintings with the Impressionists.

Perhaps her greatest achievement was the originality she found working on the old and often treated theme of domestic serenity. The penetrating intimacy reflected in her work earned her credit for a bold and original style.

The Postal Service issued the 23-cent Great American Series stamp honoring Mary Cassatt on November 4, 1988, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The dedication ceremony was held at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where Cassatt received her first formal training. The denomination met the second ounce letter rate for international surface mail.

The stamp was designed by Dennis Lyall and modeled by Clarence Holbert. The stamps were engraved through the intaglio process (A Press) by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, with panes of 100.

Reference: Postal Bulletin (October 27, 1988).

Scott Catalogue USA: 2181
mint

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Museum ID: 1990.0517.12841