Mary Cassatt — The Lamp

A pink fringed lamp, a blue vase, a woman with a fan, and almost no depth at all.

The document

A woman sits with a fan at a low table; behind her a lamp with a rose-coloured fringed shade and a deep blue vase. The objects are laid out across the sheet rather than into it, and the black of her hair sits flat against the wall. This is one of three plates in the set that Cassatt built from three separate copper plates rather than two.

The pencil at the bottom. Under the plate mark, in Cassatt's own hand: Imprimée par l'artiste et M. Leroy — Mary Cassatt — (25 épreuves). Printed by the artist and M. Leroy, twenty-five impressions. The Japanese sheets she had been studying carried the printer's name beside the artist's, and she did the same. It is reproduced here because it is part of the object.

About the artist

Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and spent her working life in France. She was the only American invited to exhibit with the Impressionists. In April 1890 she saw an exhibition of 725 Japanese prints at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, wrote to Berthe Morisot telling her not to miss it, and spent the following year teaching herself to do in copper what she had seen done in woodblock. She printed the results herself, at the press, alongside a professional printer, and signed each sheet in pencil.

The print

Printed to order and made to last. Choose Museum Matte (heavyweight matte art paper) or Fine Art Giclée (Hahnemühle cotton paper — the archival standard). The Métrica museum caption — artist, title, date and source — is printed as part of the piece, set in our house type. Free US shipping on orders over $75.

Mary Cassatt, The Lamp, colour aquatint and drypoint, with softground, 1890–91. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1932.1290. Public domain.