What Is Mary Cassatt's Date of Birth?
Sunday May 24, 2009
Scholars, I seek your input. Yesterday a reader emailed me to let me know I'd made a "minor typo" by putting Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926) down for a May 25 birth date. Believe me, I'm not saying I'm right, only that I did cross-reference sources (as always) before using that date. Specifically, the Grove Dictionary of Art and the Encyclopedia of American Art Before 1914 (both published by Oxford University Press). I have subsequently seen May 25, 1844 used in an exhibition catalogue from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art entitled Capturing Beauty: American Impressionist & Realist Paintings from the McGlothlin Collection (2005).
Well, I have no other physical reference materials in my possession and May 22, 1844 is all over the Internet as the correct date of Miss Cassatt's birth. There are also less frequent mentions of May 23, 1844; May 23, 1845; and May 22, 1845. Clearly, 4/5ths of this information is wrong. (Note: I am not a medical professional, but am 100% positive humans only get one date of birth.)
My brainstorm was to check with the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Department of Records. Unfortunately, Allegheny City, where Mary Cassatt was born, did not begin recording birth certificates until 1882.
So, people, we have something of a mystery here. I am asking all of you scholars out there if you know (1) of any primary source records re: Mary Cassatt's date of birth and (2) how I can get my hands on a facsimile. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a huge deal--but it has always been important, to me, to at least try to publish accurate dates.
Can you help? Please leave a comment. And thank you in advance for any sources, references, leads and, of course, your time.
Comments
antwerp – belgium 25 05 2009 – maybe this is usefull : check : artcyclopedia by date (22th of may) information about this artist. kindly regards
eugeen weyn
The exhibition catalogue “Mary Cassatt, Modern Women,” (Art Institute of Chicago, 1998) lists May 22, 1844 as the birth date. This book has an extensive bibliography and archival reference material.
H.H. Arnason who wrote “The History of Modern Art has her listed as born in 1845, no date, and born in Philadelphia. This is an interesting question.
I believe your best bet is to call the Carnegie Museum of Art and speak with the curator, Amanda Zehnder, Carnegie Museum of Art assistant curator of fine arts and organizer of The Impressionist Era: 412.622.3288. I’m from the Pittsburgh area and believe they would best serve to answer your question.
“I am not a medical professional, but am 100% positive humans only get one date of birth”
Or not…
A large chunk of my family are Irish Catholic and over 60. Recently we have found out that the the days they were celebrating as their birthdays were in fact false.
It was traditional to celebrate the day of the christening, usually a few days after the actual birth.
I don’t know if this is relevant here, but it is an example where someone can appear to have a range in birthdates.