Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Jem Hom, New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Mary Cassatt
(American, 1844–1926)
Mlle Luguet in a Coat and Hat
c. 1883
Softground etching on cream laid paper
Plate: 8 1/2 x 7 3/8 in. (21.6 x 18.7 cm)
Sheet: 16 7/8 x 12 in. (42.9 x 30.5 cm)
Frame: 19 1/2 x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
Sheet: 16 7/8 x 12 in. (42.9 x 30.5 cm)
Frame: 19 1/2 x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1993.13
SignedIn graphite lower right (below platemark): M C
InterpretationA glimpse of an elegantly attired young girl in a fur-trimmed coat and brimmed hat, Mlle Luguet in a Coat and Hat is a fine early example of Mary Cassatt's mastery of the vocabulary of black and white intaglio printmaking technique. Mlle Luguet's face, peeking out in profile from her layers of clothing, is silhouetted against an undefined background, blank apart from tonal nuances. Instead of indicating the individual personality of her subject, Cassatt lavished attention on the texture of her coat's fur trim and the details of her hat. The prim Mademoiselle Luguet is viewed from an adult's perspective, which foreshortens her figure.
Early in her career as an American expatriate artist in France, Cassatt was intrigued by the experimental printmaking of French artists Edgar Degas (1834–1917), Camille Pissarro (1831–1903), and Félix Bracquemond (1833-1914), all associated with the movement known as impressionism, which placed a premium on spontaneity and contemporary subject matter. With these artists' encouragement, in 1879 Cassatt began to explore etching technique. She mastered a range of complex graphic intaglio methods with admirable virtuosity. Adept at handling both drypoint and etching needles, she often used soft ground etching to create novel tonal effects, evident in this print. By 1911, when she abandoned printmaking as her eyesight failed, Cassatt had executed over 200 prints, many, like Mlle Luguet in a Coat and Hat, showing children.
Early in her career as an American expatriate artist in France, Cassatt was intrigued by the experimental printmaking of French artists Edgar Degas (1834–1917), Camille Pissarro (1831–1903), and Félix Bracquemond (1833-1914), all associated with the movement known as impressionism, which placed a premium on spontaneity and contemporary subject matter. With these artists' encouragement, in 1879 Cassatt began to explore etching technique. She mastered a range of complex graphic intaglio methods with admirable virtuosity. Adept at handling both drypoint and etching needles, she often used soft ground etching to create novel tonal effects, evident in this print. By 1911, when she abandoned printmaking as her eyesight failed, Cassatt had executed over 200 prints, many, like Mlle Luguet in a Coat and Hat, showing children.
Jem Hom, New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Exhibition History
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 30, 1994. [exh. cat.]
Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004 (on exhibit partial run: April 1–July 5, 2004). [exh. cat.]
Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004 (on exhibit partial run: April 1–July 5, 2004). [exh. cat.]
Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 48, p. 48; ill. p. 97 (black & white).
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. 34; ill. p. 34 (color).
Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Faces of America: Portraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text p. 30 (checklist); ill. p. 53 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]
Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Visages de l'Amérique: le portrait dans la collection de la Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text p. 30 (checklist); ill. p. 53 (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. 34; ill. p. 34 (color).
Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Faces of America: Portraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text p. 30 (checklist); ill. p. 53 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]
Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Visages de l'Amérique: le portrait dans la collection de la Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text p. 30 (checklist); ill. p. 53 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]