The Fitting

Mary Cassatt

1890–91 · Drypoint and soft-ground etching, printed in black ink from one plate; second state of seven (Mathews & Shapiro) · Drawings and Prints

An experimental printmaker, Cassatt monitored her developing designs by printing early impressions and intermediary states in black. These stand alone as independent works of art and compare meaningfully to later color impressions of the same image. In this impression of The Fitting, the only known example of a second state, the artist delineated the scene’s essential elements with a sure hand; she would add the lines indicating the wall and mirror at a later stage. When the brothers Arthur and Paul J. Sachs gave early and final states of Cassatt’s set to the Department of Prints at its founding in 1916, the color states came from Paul and those printed in black ink from Arthur.

Artist

Mary Cassatt

Date

1890–91

Medium

Drypoint and soft-ground etching, printed in black ink from one plate; second state of seven (Mathews & Shapiro)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Arthur Sachs, 1916