In the Omnibus

1890–91

In the Omnibus, 1890–91. Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926). Color drypoint and aquatint; platemark: 36.6 x 26.8 cm (14 7/16 x 10 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Charles T. Brooks 1941.71 This print belongs to a series of color etchings created by Mary Cassatt between 1890 and 1891. Each was influenced by the artist's study of Japanese woodblock prints, especially in their use of flat planes of color and domestic subject matter. In the scene depicted here, a middle-class woman accompanies her nursemaid and child on errands throughout Paris. The group rides in an omnibus, a form of public transportation where different genders and classes could intermingle. While the nanny's attention stays focused on her young charge, the female subject appears distracted, gazing toward the world beyond. The artist Camille Pissarro described the series of prints to which this work belongs as "admirable, as beautiful as Japanese work," praising Cassatt's translation of Ukiyo-e woodblocks.