Cassatt, Mary. Knitting in the Library, c. 1881. softground etching and aquatint, Platemark: 27.8 x 21.7 cm (10 15/16 x 8 9/16 in.); Sheet: 36.5 x 27.8 cm (14 3/8 x 10 15/16 in.). Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1988.36. Copyrighted.

Knitting in the Library

c. 1881

Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926)

Prints

Knitting in the Library, c. 1881. Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926). Softground etching and aquatint; platemark: 27.8 x 21.7 cm (10 15/16 x 8 9/16 in.); sheet: 36.5 x 27.8 cm (14 3/8 x 10 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1988.36 Beginning from a spare drawing of her mother in her home library, Mary Cassatt created this etching by adding aquatint to her copper plate, creating tonal variations and bold contrasts of light and shadow. This is an extremely rare artist's proof of the second of three versions of the etching. Early prints like Knitting in the Library were private rather than commercial works of art, exercises in experimentation and innovation made by Cassatt as she explored Impressionism. Mary Cassatt often made only a few (or even just one) impression of her early softground etchings, making these prints virtually unique works.

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Cassatt, Mary
Classification: Print
Formatted Medium: softground etching and aquatint
Medium: softground, etching, aquatint
Dimensions: Platemark: 27.8 x 21.7 cm (10 15/16 x 8 9/16 in.); Sheet: 36.5 x 27.8 cm (14 3/8 x 10 15/16 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: signed in pencil at lower right: Mary Cassatt Inscription: inscribed in pencil at lower left: épr. d'essai
Departments: Prints
Accession Number: 1988.36
Credit Line: Dudley P. Allen Fund
Exhibitions: The Year in Review for 1988, Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, L'Impressionnisme vu d'Amérique, Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in Nineteenth-Century Paris, Innovative Impressions: Cassatt, Degas, and Pissarro as Painter-Printmakers, Cassatt - McNicoll
Rights Statement: Copyrighted