Mary Stevenson Cassatt (American, 1844-1926). Gathering Fruit, circa 1893. Drypoint, soft-ground, and aquatint in colors...

Description

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (American, 1844-1926)
Gathering Fruit, circa 1893
Drypoint, soft-ground, and aquatint in colors on paper, with watermark
20 x 15-1/2 inches (50.8 x 39.4 cm) (sheet)
From an edition of approximately 20; 11th and final state
Signed in pencil lower right

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Chicago, Illinois.

EXHIBITED:
Art institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, n.d.

LITERATURE:
N.M. Mathews, B.S. Shapiro, Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints, 15 XI/XI.

Because of the à la poupée inking, all impressions of this state are unique, in that the colors and inking vary somewhat from impression to impression. The most commonly found color scheme shows the left background printed in a light tan and with the upper band of bricks printed in a dark brown. Our impression however, has a light green background at left, and with the upper band of bricks in a lighter brown. There is also a strong reddish-brown on the base of the pear tree trunk. Breeskin catalogued only five states to which Nancy Mowll Mathews and Barbara Stern Shapiro have added six more. Mathews and Shapiro cite only 1 or 2 proofs of each early state (there are actually a few more), and 6 proofs of the eleventh and final state as here. They also note that the Durand-Ruell stock book (one of her dealers) indicates an edition of 20 in this state, and Mathews and Shapiro adds ..but only a handful of impressions have been located. A few other proofs have come to light, but until a thorough census of impressions is taken, it remains unclear if 20 impressions were actually printed, but it is likely. The printer's identity is unknown. There has been no indication that Modeste Leroy, the printer of the well-known series of 10 color aquatints, was involved in the printing. This work, Cassatt's second largest plate, was loosely based on the central portion of a mural entitled Modern Woman which Cassatt painted for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Mary Cassatt, one of the most celebrated woman artists in the history of art, was born in 1844 in Pittsburgh to a wealthy family, and after working and studying in France, decided to remain there until her death in 1926. This American expatriot was the only American to exhibit with the original French Impressionists, and was a close friend and associate of Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro. While she excelled in oil painting and pastel, her graphic output, especially her color aquatints have always been recognized as some of the most influential and innovative graphic works of the fourth quarter of the 19th century. In these works, the flat areas of bright color and the bold silhouettes and unconventional compositions immediately reveal their debt to Japanese color woodcuts. These woodcuts were collected by many of the Impressionists and other artists of the day, including Degas, Monet, Bracquemond, Renoir, Gauguin and van Gogh, and championed by the art dealer Sigfried Bing and the critic Louis Gonse, among others. These prints became one of the strongest influences on their art.

We would like to thank Scot Campbell of Chicago, Illinois for his gracious assistance in cataloging.


More information about Mary Stevenson Cassatt. See also: Cassatt, Mary Stevenson, Mary Cassatt Artist.

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