Mary Cassatt — The Letter

A woman sealing an envelope, against a wall of green sprigged paper.

The document

She sits at a small writing desk in a blue patterned dress, holding the envelope to her mouth to seal it. The wall behind is covered in a green sprigged paper that runs edge to edge, and the dress pattern and the wallpaper are given equal weight, so the figure is held inside the decoration rather than placed in front of it. The gesture is over in a second and she is entirely inside it.

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 Letter, colour aquatint and drypoint, 1890–91. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1932.1282. Public domain.