Woman Bathing

1890-1891

Mary Cassatt

Artist, American, 1844 - 1926

A pale-skinned woman bends over a basin of water on a washstand in this vertical, colored print. The woman is angled away from us so only her ear and the curve of her forehead are visible beyond her hunched shoulder. Her upper body is bare, her dress having been unfastened so it hangs around her waist. The dress is striped with grass green, rose pink, and the cream white of the paper. Light gleams on her auburn hair, which is tied up and back. She cups her hands in the light blue water of the faintly yellow basin. Two bottles sit at the back corner of the washstand, and a mirror reflects the top of her head. The fawn-brown washstand is boxy, and a handled white pitcher painted with muted pink flowers is at the front left corner, which is closest to us. The wall beyond the washstand is marine blue, and the floor is brighter sapphire blue with a pattern of celery-green leaves. A mark with an oval, or a mirrored C, over an uppercase M, is stamped in royal blue at the bottom center of the print. The sheet is inscribed with graphite across the right half of the bottom margin, “Imprimée par l'artiste et M. Leroy Mary Cassatt.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    color drypoint and aquatint on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. Lessing J. Rosenwald

  • Dimensions

    plate: 36.5 x 26.6 cm (14 3/8 x 10 1/2 in.)
    sheet: 47.9 x 31.2 cm (18 7/8 x 12 5/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1989.28.5

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Mathews and Shapiro 1989, no. 10, iv/iv

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mrs. Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA; acquired 1989 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2011

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, 2011, unnumbered catalogue.

2012

  • Awash in Color: French and Japanese Prints, David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Chicago, 2012 - 2013.

2014

  • Degas/Cassatt, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2014.

2016

  • Three Centuries of American Prints: from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington; National Gallery in Prague, Prague; Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, 2016 - 2017, no. 54.

Bibliography

1979

  • Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Graphic Work. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979, no. 148, v/v.

1989

  • Mathews, Nancy Mowll, and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989, no. 10, iv/iv.

1996

  • Mathews, Nancy Mowll. Cassatt: A Retrospective. New York: H.L. Levin Associates, 1996, p. 173.

2010

  • Jones, Kimberly A. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2010.

2012

  • Foxwell, Chelsea., et al. _ Awash in Color: French and Japanese Prints_. Exh cat. David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, 2012: 38.

2014

  • Jones, Kimberly A. Degas/Cassatt. Exh. Cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2014: no. 69.

Inscriptions

lower right in graphite: Imprimee par l'artiste et M. Leroy / Mary Cassatt / (25 epreuves); lower left in graphite by unknown hand: A.

Markings

stamped lower center: MC [the artist's monogram, Lugt 604]

Watermarks

ED & CIE [in cartouche]

Wikidata ID

Q74882456

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