The Letter
Mary Cassatt American
Jointly printed by the artist and Monsieur LeRoy French
Not on view
Cassatt's solemn correspondent calmly seals her envelope, exhibiting none of the dreamy sentimentality of artistic predecessors. Instead, this modern woman attends to her domestic responsibilities with dignity and concentration-and without revealing the contents of her missive. In this final state of the print Cassatt altered an element of the initial design: the pink bodice seen here is impressed over a smocking pattern that she had drawn earlier in drypoint. The elaborate patterning was achieved by means of three plates printed successively on the same sheet.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
