Collections: American Art: The Fitting

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The Fitting

An exhibition of more than seven hundred ukiyo-e prints in Paris in 1890 inspired the expatriate Impressionist Mary Cassatt to experiment with color printing, resulting in her most formally daring and technically ambitious works. In the manner of Japanese print series, she conceived of a set of ten images, including this and In the Omnibus, depicting the daily activities of a typical middle-class woman. While Cassatt emulated the Japanese style—evident in the flattened forms, unmodulated planes of color, and strong decorative outlines—her technique was a highly inventive combination of printing processes that garnered critical admiration in Europe and America.

• Artist: Mary Cassatt, American, 1844-1926
• Medium: Drypoint and aquatint etching on off-white, moderately thick, moderately textured laid paper
• Dates: 1890-1891
• Dimensions: Sheet: 17 1/4 x 12 in. (43.8 x 30.5 cm) Image: 14 13/16 x 10 1/8 in. (37.6 x 25.7 cm)
• Signature: Monogram "MC" in center along bottom edge of print.
• Inscriptions: Inscriptions in pencil in lower right corner of sheet: "[illegible ... Levy?]" and "50"
• Collections: American Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 39.108
• State: 6th state
• Credit Line: Dick S. Ramsay Fund
• Image: Overall, 39.108_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926). The Fitting, 1890-1891. Drypoint and aquatint etching on off-white, moderately thick, moderately textured laid paper, Sheet: 17 1/4 x 12 in. (43.8 x 30.5 cm) Image: 14 13/16 x 10 1/8 in. (37.6 x 25.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 39.108 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 39.108_SL1.jpg)