ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Coiffure

Mary Cassatt American
Printer Jointly printed by the artist and Monsieur LeRoy French
1890–91
Not on view
In 1891, Cassatt exhibited a set of ten color prints at the Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris. All depict women engaged in everyday activities, with four using mirrors to extend and complicate the pictorial space. This intimate scene echoes woodcuts by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806) showing courtesans at their toilette, examples of which the artist owned and admired. Here, a half-dressed woman sits before a looking glass and arranges her hair as she gazes down at her lap. Cassatt took the print through five states, using drypoint lines to establish the figure, then applying aquatint to build tone and pattern, and finally printing the plates with colored inks.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Coiffure
  • Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
  • Printer: Jointly printed by the artist and Monsieur LeRoy (French, active 1875–1900)
  • Date: 1890–91
  • Medium: Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fifth state of five (Mathews & Shapiro)
  • Dimensions: plate: 14 1/4 x 10 1/2 in. (36.2 x 26.7 cm)
    sheet: 17 1/8 x 11 5/8 in. (43.5 x 29.5 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Paul J. Sachs, 1916
  • Object Number: 16.2.3
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
The Map, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of three
The Map
Mary Cassatt
1890
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of two
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1889
The Barefooted Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fifth state of five
The Barefooted Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1896–97
The Stocking, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; fifth state of six
The Stocking
Mary Cassatt
1890
The Mirror, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; sixth state of six
The Mirror
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1891

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.