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Maternal Caress

Mary Cassatt American
Printer Jointly printed by the artist and Monsieur LeRoy French
1890–91
Not on view
After transferring her design for this print from the preparatory drawing (64.123.3), Cassatt established the figures with drypoint lines, incising directly into the copperplate with a needle. She then built up the areas of tone and pattern by working across two additional plates using aquatint. This work is one of a series of ten color prints for which she was directly inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts, evident in the flattening of the pictorial space and use of unmodulated color. The artist first exhibited the print as "Nude Child" (Enfant nue); the current title derives from the 1948 catalogue raisonné and indicates the extent to which Cassatt’s work came to be associated with the subject of motherhood.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Maternal Caress
  • 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, aquatint and softground etching, printed in color from three plates; sixth state of six (Mathews & Shapiro)
  • Dimensions: Plate: 14 3/8 × 10 9/16 in. (36.5 × 26.8 cm)
    Sheet: 17 1/4 × 11 15/16 in. (43.8 × 30.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Paul J. Sachs, 1916
  • Object Number: 16.2.5
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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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

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