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Mary Cassatt

Mother with Child seen from behind, 1890

Description

Maker

  • Mary Cassatt, 1844-1926, American

Title

Mother with Child seen from behind

Year

1890

Medium

Drypoint on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • drypoint

Supports

  • Medium weight cream laid paper

Dimensions

Image/plate: 23.2 x 16.2 cm (9 1/8 x 6 3/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Original--Recto:signed in pencil under platemark:Mary Cassatt; in pencil on verso in LL corner:45.219 /B24958; in LR corner:END.

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Museum Collection

Object Number

45.219

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Drawing the Line

March 30 - June 10, 2001

Mary Cassatt executed this work in drypoint, a print technique in which a needle is used to inscribe a design directly into the surface of a metal plate. The plate is inked, wiped (the incised lines hold ink), and pressed onto the paper. Cassatt's image shows clearly two of drypoint's most characteristic qualities. The baby's back and right leg are delicately shaded with thin marks lightly scratched into the plate. The rich, velvety lines used to establish the baby's contours and the left-hand edge of the mother's dress were produced by gouging deeply into the plate and allowing the ink to cling to the metal burr displaced by the drypoint needle. The line describing the mother's skirt is an especially beautiful mark that seems to ground the drawing and forms a counterweight to the denser work at the top of the sheet.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Mother with Child seen from behind with the accession number of 45.219. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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