One of the few Americans to play a key role in the development of Impressionism, Cassatt often focused on quiet moments between mothers and children. Here she describes a baby apparently about to squirm against an embrace. The composition is composed of flat areas of jewellike color, revealing Cassatt’s interest in Japanese ukiyo-e (woodblock) prints, which she saw at an exhibition in Paris in 1890. For this work she also looked to Western methods of printmaking, using drypoint to create a precise descriptive contour and aquatint to provide deep color.

Gallery label from

2019

Medium Drypoint and aquatint
Dimensions plate: 13 × 16 15/16" (33 × 43 cm); sheet: 15 1/2 × 18 1/2" (39.3 × 47 cm)
Publisher Unidentified
Printer Unidentified
Edition unknown
Credit Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Object number 673.1940
Department Drawings and Prints

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Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt

American, 1844–1926 3 works online

Among the most prominent painters and printmakers of her generation, Cassatt (1844–1926) had been asked to develop a decorative program on the subject of “modern woman” for the Exposition, an international fair held in Chicago in 1893.

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