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The Lime-burner

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Date: 1859

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1995.4

Text Entries: Kennedy, Edward Guthrie. The Etched Work of Whistler. Illustrated by reproductions in collotype of the different states of the plates. New York: Grolier Club, 1910. No. 46. Fryberger, Betsy G. Whistler: Themes and Variations. (exh. cat., Stanford University Museum of Art). Stanford, California: Stanford Art Book, 1978. No. 6, p. 19. Fine, Ruth E. Drawing Near: Whistler Etchings from the Zelman Collection. (exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984. No. 17, pp. 56–57. Lochnan, Katharine A. The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler. New Haven, Connecticut and London, England: Art Gallery of Ontario and Yale University Press, 1984. No. 49. Dorment, Richard and Margaret F. MacDonald et al. James McNeill Whistler. (exh. cat., Tate Gallery). London, England: Tate Gallery, 1994. No. 31, pp. 101–102. McNamara, Carole and John Siewert. Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision. (exh. cat., University of Michigan Museum of Art). Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1994. No. 14, pp. 54–55.

Rotherhithe

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Date: 1860

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1995.5

Text Entries: The London Etchings Refining the prosaic etching technique learned while working for the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, James McNeill Whistler won recognition for his artistic prints of topographical views of Paris in 1858. A few years later, the Thames Set, sixteen etchings portraying the poverty of the working class along London's river thoroughfare, brought him international critical approval when exhibited in London and Paris. The Venetian Etchings Winning the notorious Whistler v. Ruskin libel trail in 1878 was a financial disaster for the artist, who was awarded a single farthing but had to pay substantial court costs. A commission from the London Fine Arts Society for twelve etchings of Venice offered Whistler an opportunity to redeem his artistic reputation. Working outdoors during his fourteen-month stay, Whistler drew directly onto a copper plate is an impressionistic interpretation of a scene that diverged significantly from his detailed etchings of London. Whistler's emphasis on the plane parallel to the surface distinguishes his views of Venice from other artists. The emphasis is not merely formal, but a way of creating a sense of theatrical anticipation. Contrasts of light and texture are emphasized by the broken intricately cross-hatched lines with which Whistler drew the figures, decaying bricks and the light wiry lines that depict the people. Returning to London in December 1880, Whistler displayed twelve of his fifty Venice etchings at the London Fine Arts Society. Known as the First Venice Set, the exhibition alternated six horizontal and six vertical subjects. The Second Venice Set of twenty-six etchings was exhibited in 1883. While the compositions range in subject from private courtyard scenes to tourist views, they all have a theatrical quality to them. Whistler's command of portraying depth in his etched landscapes and his emphasis on working from the center to the edge of the paper distinguish the series.

Riault, the Engraver

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Date: 1860

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1995.53

Text Entries: Brownell, William C. "Whistler in Painting and Etching." Scribner's Monthly 18:4 (August 1879): 486–90, 493–95. Ill. p. 488. Mansfield, Howard. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etchings and Dry-points of James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Chicago, Illinois: Caxton Club, 1909. No. 65. Kennedy, Edward Guthrie. The Etched Work of Whistler. Illustrated by reproductions in collotype of the different states of the plates. New York: Grolier Club, 1910. No. 65, i/iii. Lochnan, Katharine A. The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler. New Haven, Connecticut and London, England: Art Gallery of Ontario and Yale University Press, 1984. No. 69. Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 24, 30 (checklist); fig. 13, p. 24 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print] Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 24, 30 (checklist); fig. 13, p. 24 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Gathering Fruit

Mary Cassatt

Date: c. 1893

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1993.14

Text Entries: A trellis of fruit trees covers the walls of a kitchen garden where two women are seen in flower-print dresses. Perched on a ladder, the first woman, her back to the viewer, is handing a piece of fruit to a child in the arms of the second. Mary Cassatt occupies a unique place in the history of American and French art. She was one of the few female artists of her time to be recognized by her peers for her varied talents as a painter, pastellist and printmaker. A resident of Paris from 1874 onwards, she was also the only American to be invited to show with the French Impressionist group. In the spring of 1890, Cassatt visited the important exhibition of Japanese art presented at the École des Beaux-Arts. There, she developed an enthusiasm for the woodcuts known as ukiyo-e. She was attracted to the aesthetic characteristics of these prints, such as subjects drawn from everyday life, the absence of traditional perspective, asymmetrical compositions, and the play between decorative motifs and flat colors. A few months later, she completed her first series of color prints "in the Japanese style," the most original works of her career. Though inspired by the Japanese prints, Cassatt found her subjects in the the bourgeois feminine world with which she was familiar. In this print, the artist creates a visual play of contrast between the fluid shapes of the flowery dresses the women wear and the the strong verticals and horizontals of the wall, the ladder and the bricks behind them.

The Banjo Lesson

Mary Cassatt

Date: c. 1893

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1999.28

Text Entries: Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 156, p. 65; ill. p. 150 (black & white). Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. Mary Cassatt: Graphic Art. (exh. cat., Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981. Ill. no. 40 (black & white impression from the Grand Rapids Art Museum). Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-61, p. 170 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Mathews, Nancy Mowll and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. No. 16, pp. 164–67 (no. 16, fourth state). Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 254; pl. 75, p. 255 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 254; pl. 75, p. 255 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago). Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. Text pp. 217-18; fig. 8, p. 218 (color impression from the Collection of Kay and Michael A. Park). Adelson, Warren et al. Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio. (exh. cat., Adelson Galleries, Inc.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. Text pp. 98–99; ill. pp. 98-99 (color). Mary Cassatt: Impressions. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005; Paris: Le Passage Paris–New York Éditions, 2005. Text p. 57 (checklist); ill. p. 71 (color). Matthews, Nancy Mowll. Mary Cassatt: Friends and Family. (exh. cat., Shelburne Museum). Shelburne, Vermont: Shelburne Museum, Inc., 2008. Text p. 37; ill. fig. 38, p. 38 (color).

Perils of the Sea

Winslow Homer

Date: 1888

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1995.38

Text Entries: Winslow Homer's two fisherwomen from the fishing village of Cullercoats stand steadfast and vigilant as they wait for news of their husbands' boats. The rescue house and the group of men looking out to sea serve as a foil for the female figures who, heroic in posture, suggest an air of quiet calm in the presence of possible calamity. The inhabitants of the English village would remain an important subject for Homer and his many depictions of fisherwomen, in everyday tasks such as knitting, often underscore the symbiotic relationships between the fisherwomen and their male counterparts, which relied on an observance of strictly gendered roles.

The Bath

Mary Cassatt

Date: 1890–91

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1994.4

Text Entries: Ives, Colta Feller. The Great Wave: The Influence of Japanese Woodcuts on French Prints. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974. Text pp. 45–55 (discusses Mary Cassatt print The Bath, here titled The Tub, cited specifically on pp. 46–47 as Cassatt's first attempt to follow Utamaro's model). Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 143, pp. 61–62; ill. p. 140 (color). Getlin, Frank. Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints. New York: Abbeville Press, 1980. Text p. 76; ill. p. 77 (color impression from The National Gallery of Art). Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. Mary Cassatt: Graphic Art. (exh. cat., Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981. No. 32 (color impression from the Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute). Mathews, Nancy Mowll and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. No. 5, pp. 103–109. Reymond, Nathalie. Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Text p. 28; ill. p. 26 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago). Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. No. 56, p. 278 (color impression from The Art Institute of Chicago, acc. no. 1932.1287). Adelson, Warren et al. Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio. (exh. cat., Adelson Galleries, Inc.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. Text pp. 76–79; ill. pp. 76-79 (color). Cartwright, Derrick R. The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 8; fig. 8, p. 8 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print] Cartwright, Derrick R. L'Héroïque et le quotidian: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 8; fig. 8, p. 8 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print] Mary Cassatt: Impressions. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005; Paris: Le Passage Paris–New York Éditions, 2005. Text p. 56 (checklist); ill. p. 61 (color). Matthews, Nancy Mowll. Mary Cassatt: Friends and Family. (exh. cat., Shelburne Museum). Shelburne, Vermont: Shelburne Museum, Inc., 2008. Text p. 22; ill. fig. 24, p. 24 (color).

Maternal Caress

Mary Cassatt

Date: 1890–91

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1994.5

Text Entries: Ives, Colta Feller. The Great Wave: The Influence of Japanese Woodcuts on French Prints. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974. Text pp. 45–55 (discusses Mary Cassatt print Maternal Caress, cited specifically on pp. 48–49). Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 150, p. 64; ill. p. 146 (color). Getlin, Frank. Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints. New York: Abbeville Press, 1980. Text p. 90; ill. p. 91 (color impression from The National Gallery of Art). Mathews, Nancy Mowll and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. No. 12, pp. 140-44. Maternal Caress, Mary Cassatt. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 1995. Ill. (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print] Regard sur cinq années d'expositions (Five years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Text p. 113; ill. p. 108 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago). Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. No. 63, p. 285 (color impression from The Art Institute of Chicago, acc. no. 1932.1288). Mancoff, Debra N. Mary Cassatt: Reflections of Women's Lives. London, England: Frances Lincoln, 1998. Text p. 88; ill. p. 89 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Mary Cassatt: Impressions. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005; Paris: Le Passage Paris–New York Éditions, 2005. Text p. 56 (checklist); ill. p. 59 (color). Vanessa Lecomte, editor. Portrait of a Lady : peinture et photographies américains (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny and Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2008. Text (checklist) p. 93.

Afternoon Tea Party

Mary Cassatt

Date: 1890–91

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1994.13

Text Entries: Collection Cameo companion piece, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 1995. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.] Regard sur Mary Cassatt (Mary Cassatt at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 2–October 31, 1996. American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998. Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 1999. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999. [exh. cat.] The Decorative Form: The Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts and the Asian Influence in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 16–December 5, 1999. On Process: The American Print, Technique Examined, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 2, 2001. D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002. Mary Cassatt, graveur impressionniste (Mary Cassatt: Impressionist Printmaker), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 3, 2005. [exh. cat.] Portrait of a Lady : peintures et photographies américaines en France, 1870–1915 (Portrait of a Lady: American Paintings and Photographs in France, 1870–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (organizers). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, April 1–July 14, 2008; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France, September 25, 2008–January 5, 2009 (exhibited in Giverny). [exh. cat.] Vanessa Lecomte, editor. Portrait of a Lady : peinture et photographies américains (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny and Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2008. Text (checklist) p. 93.

Woman Bathing

Mary Cassatt

Date: 1890–91

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1996.87

Text Entries: Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Graphic Work. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 148, p. 64; ill. frontispiece (color). Getlin, Frank. Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints. New York: Abbeville Press, 1980. Text p. 86; ill. p. 87 (color impression from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). Mathews, Nancy Mowll and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. No. 10, pp. 132–40. Christie's New York, New York (Sale 8392, April 29, 1996): lot 80. [specific reference to Terra print] Reymond, Nathalie. Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Text p. 28; ill. p. 26 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago). Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. Text no. 61, p. 323; ill. no. 61, p. 283 (color impression in The Art Institute of Chicago, acc. no. 1932.1281). Mancoff, Debra N. Mary Cassatt: Reflections of Women's Lives. London, England: Frances Lincoln, 1998. Text p. 26; ill. p. 27 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Adelson, Warren et al. Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio. (exh. cat., Adelson Galleries, Inc.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. Text p. 90; ill. p. 91 (color). Cartwright, Derrick R. The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 22 (checklist); ill. p. 45 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Cartwright, Derrick R. L'Héroïque et le quotidian: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 22 (checklist); ill. p. 45 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 126, 192; ill. pp. 10 (color), 127 (color), 192 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print] Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 126, 192; ill. pp. 10 (color), 127 (color), 192 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print] Mary Cassatt: Impressions. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005; Paris: Le Passage Paris–New York Éditions, 2005. Text p. 57 (checklist); ill. cover (color detail), p. 63 (color). Vanessa Lecomte, editor. Portrait of a Lady : peinture et photographies américains (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny and Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2008. Text (checklist) p. 93.

In the Omnibus

Mary Cassatt

Date: 1890–91

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1999.27

Text Entries: Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 145, p. 63; ill. p. 142 (color). Getlin, Frank. Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints. New York: Abbeville Press, 1980. Text p. 80; ill. p. 81 (color impression from The National Gallery of Art). Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. Mary Cassatt: Graphic Art. (exh. cat., Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981. Ill. no. 32 (color impression from the Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute). Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-58, p. 167 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Mathews, Nancy Mowll and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. No. 7, pp. 115–20 (no. 7, p. 119–seventh state). Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 251; pl. 74, p. 253 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 251; pl. 74, p. 253 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Regard sur cinq années d'expositions (Five years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Ill. p. 110 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago). Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. No. 58; ill. p. 280 (impression in The Art Institute of Chicago, acc. no. 1932.1289). Mancoff, Debra N. Mary Cassatt: Reflections of Women's Lives. New York: Stewart Tabori, 1998. Text p. 73; ill. p. 72 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 23 (checklist); ill. p. 28 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 23 (checklist); ill. p. 28 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Adelson, Warren et al. Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio. (exh. cat., Adelson Galleries, Inc.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. Text p. 82; ill. p. 83 (color). Cartwright, Derrick. "The City and Country: American Perspectives 1870–1920." American Art Review 7:1 (January-February 2000): 100-11. Ill. p. 106 (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Mancoff, Debra. In the Omnibus, Mary Cassatt. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 2001. Ill. (color). [specific reference to Terra print] Mary Cassatt: Impressions. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005; Paris: Le Passage Paris–New York Éditions, 2005. Text p. 57 (checklist); ill. p. 68 (color).

The Lamp

Mary Cassatt

Date: 1890–91

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1999.29

Text Entries: Mary Cassatt began her art training in Philadelphia at the age of sixteen, impatient with the academic emphasis on draftsmanship and eager to begin figure painting in oil. It was only after establishing herself in France as a portrait and genre painter, and exhibiting at Edgar Degas' invitation with the Impressionists, that Cassatt was inspired to develop an innovative, graphic and spare drawing style influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e prints pulled from wood blocks. Her famous series of ten color prints of 1890-1891, which included The Lamp, depict the enclosed and implicitly complete world of the upper class Parisian woman. Cassatt combined drypoint with aquatint techniques, used diluted printer's ink rather than paint, and employed the help of a professional printer; she explained that rather than duplicating Japanese printmaking methods, she had attempted to infuse a Japanese "atmosphere" into these works. Between 1892 and 1897, she designed nine more prints. Under the Horse Chestnut Tree typifies Cassatt's fascination with tender but unsentimental images of mothers and children; though she never married, she once declared that "There's only one thing in life for a woman; it's to be a mother." Cassatt probably executed Summertime at her country home of Mesnil-Beaufresne, where she lived year-round after her mother's death in 1895. The composition of the painting, including facing female figures in a rowboat cut off at right and an absent upper horizon line, reappears in one of her prints; though her range of subjects was comparatively small, Cassatt often explored a single composition in multiple media. Her use of bright, pure color, expressive brushwork and an extreme vantage point (in this case, from above) to depict a scene of modern recreation reveal Cassatt's thorough understanding of the Impressionists' experiment.