Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
Under the Horse Chestnut Tree
Drypoint and aquatint in color, ca. 1896
Prints & Photographs
Division
Pennell Fund purchase (139.10)
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
In the Omnibus
Drypoint and aquatint, 1890-1891
Prints & Photographs Division
Purchase (140.12)
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
Gathering Fruit
Drypoint and aquatint in color, ca. 1893
Prints & Photographs
Division
Pennell Fund purchase (140.11)
|
Mary Cassatt has long been celebrated as the only American artist
among the core group of French Impressionists, and one of the rare
women in that movement. Under the thrall of Japanese woodcuts she
had seen at the École des Beaux-Arts, Cassatt embarked on
a set of experimental color intaglio prints that are considered
among the finest of her works in any medium. The stylistic idiom
of Japonisme is underscored here by the flattened modeling,
bold outlining, and the oblique perspective of her composition.
The print Gathering Fruit by Impressionist Mary Cassatt
is one of a series of works by the artist that relates closely to
her commissioned mural for the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition
in 1893 on the theme of the "Modern Woman." The original mural (which
now survives only in photographic reproductions) was composed of
three allegorical scenes entitled: "Arts, Music, Dancing;" "Young
Women Plucking the Fruits of Knowledge or Science;" and "Young Girls
Pursuing Fame." Gathering Fruit is based on the mural's
central panel showing women and young girls harvesting fruit in
an orchard--a symbolic gathering and sharing of the "fruits of knowledge."
|