Kathrin Cawein

[1] Early in her career, her work received praise from one critic for its "adroit handling of color and good drawing — a technique that seems to express personal engaging conceptions.

Late in 1932 she had participated in a two-person exhibition in the parish house of a church in her hometown,[1] and during the following year her work appeared in group exhibitions at the Cronyn & Lowndes Galleries (Manhattan),[2] the Art Students League (Manhattan),[8] Grant Studios (Brooklyn),[9] and, under the auspices of the Arts and Crafts Guild, at Westchester County Center (White Plains).

[10] Writing in the New York Evening Post, Margaret Breuning said Cawein's prints in the Cronyn & Lowndes show revealed "an adroit handling of color and good drawing — a technique that seems to express personal engaging conceptions.

[21] In 1944 her drypoint sketch, "Uncle Clarence's Barn, Fairfield, N.Y." received honorable mention in the annual exhibition put on by the National Association of Women Artists.

[4] Cawein seems not to have sold her prints through commercial dealers, instead taking advantage of shows held by non-profit organizations where works on display were offered for sale.

[5][21] Although primarily known for her etchings, Cawein also worked in other print media including drypoint, aquatint and woodcut[1] and also made drawings and pastels.

"[4] Her etching "Gurgling Rillo" (shown at left) was said to employ light and shadow in a manner that "surpasses photographic technic and tells a story.

[29][30] In 1930, then studying at the Art Students League, Cawein lived with her mother in a house by the train station near the center of the village of Pleasantville.

[5][note 4] Although Cawein had no direct connection with Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, she became a benefactor of the school after receiving her inheritance from the Mastick estate.