Playing with Cottonwood Tree

Clara Mairs loved depicting children at play. It's one of the subjects-like the circus, farm animals and Halloween-that she returned to throughout her life. Mairs honed her printmaking skills on a trip to Paris in 1928 with Clement Haupers (1900-1982). The two met at gatherings Mairs had organized to let artists work from live models. Although she rarely dated her prints, she produced many during the 1930s while living with Haupers in St. Paul. Here her clear, uncomplicated lines reflect her youthful subject.