NEW YORK, NY.- Over 80 rarely seen print works by the legendary American artist Mary Cassatt will be showcased in a new free exhibition. Spanning 20 years of Cassatt’s career as a printmaker from 1878 to 1898, Daring Methods: The Prints of Mary Cassatt documents the artist’s first tentative steps in the medium and culminates in her highly accomplished and technically dazzling color prints. Daring Methods: The Prints of Mary Cassatt will be on display from March 8, 2013 through June 23, 2013 in the Print and Stokes Gallery located on the third floor at The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.

“Thanks to Samuel Putnam Avery's gift of his personal collection of prints to the New York Public Library in 1900, the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs owns many rare and unique sheets by Mary Cassatt,” said Dr. Madeleine Viljoen, Curator of The New York Public Library’s Print Collection. “While Cassatt's work as a printmaker is well-known, very few collections are in a position to highlight her experimental attitude to the medium or to allow viewers to study just how she approached the often challenging task of making prints.”

Daring Methods: The Prints of Mary Cassatt shows the artist’s often bold approach to printmaking. Cassatt experimented with a variety of print media, resolutely pursuing the effects she desired. She frequently repeated compositions with only minor changes or continuously reworked her copper printing plates. At other times, she abandoned her project after pulling just a few impressions. The exhibition enables visitors the rare opportunity to witness how Cassatt grappled with subjects, compositions and an array of printing methods.

Daring Methods: The Prints of Mary Cassatt will be on display from March 8, 2013 through June 23, 2013 in the Print and Stokes Gallery located on the third floor at The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.