Mary Agnes Reardon (1912–2002) was a Catholic liturgical artist; she was a painter, muralist,
''Looking Glass Reviews''. designer and illustrator of children's books. Reardon attended

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

and was a BFA graduate of the

Yale School of Fine Arts The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in graphic design, painti ...

(1939). She also studied in Mexico with artist

David Alfaro Siquieros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...

from whom she learned true

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

. She was the designer and painter of the "first true fresco in the United States" at St. John Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. Reardon painted murals for many religious institutions. Major works include the Guadalupe chapel and two transept ceilings at the

National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic minor basilica and national shrine in Washington D.C. It is the largest Catholic church building in North America and is also the tallest habitable building in Wash ...

in Washington, D.C., a triptych at the

Cathedral of Mary our Queen The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen is a Roman Catholic cathedral located Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was completed in 1959. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Baltimore. It replaced the Basilica of the National Shrine of t ...

in Baltimore, Maryland, an early mural at Cabot Hall at Radcliffe College, two half domes, soffits and historical walls at the St. Louis Cathedral. Reardon also illustrated seven children's books. The best known of these is ''

Snow Treasure ''Snow Treasure'' is a children's novel by Marie McSwigan. Set in Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II, it recounts the story of several Norwegian children who use sleds to smuggle their country's gold bullion past German guards to a waiti ...

'', with text written by Marie McSwigan. As of 2015, this book was in the collection of more than 1400 libraries.

Book illustrations

* ''

'' * ''Pope Pius XII, Rock of peace''"Pope Pius XII, Rock of peace",

References

External links

Mary A. Reardon Papers
at the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street ...

Mary Reardon papers
at the

Smithsonian Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reardon, Mary Agnes 1912 births 2002 deaths American muralists 20th-century American painters Radcliffe College alumni Yale School of Art alumni