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Lot Essay
Of the Impressionist circle, Mary Cassatt was one of the most prolific and technically-gifted artists. Her biographers noted that she began work on paintings and pastels in her studio everyday at eight in the morning and finished at dusk. After completing her studio work, she retired to focus on printmaking. Her oeuvre includes over 200 prints; most pulled in small editions, since she was not a professional printmaker. Instead, she was among the growing number of Peintres-Gravures (Painter-Etchers)-professional painters by training, who sought to promote original prints as a fine art.
While living in Paris, Cassatt belonged to an artists' group called La Société des peintres-Graveurs Français. In 1891, the Durand-Ruel gallery planned to host an exhibition for the printmakers. Prior to the exhibition, the president of the society, Henri Gurand, decided to exclude all non-native born French artists. His decision omitted Cassatt and her friend and colleague Camille Pissarro (born in the Dutch West Indies). Angered by the decision, she persuaded Durand-Ruel to hold a small exhibition for her and Pissarro. During this show, she presented her set of ten color etchings for the first time.
These ten color prints are among her best known images. At the time of their execution, she was already a mature artist and skilled printmaker. Before endeavoring on her masterworks, she had created approximately 126 prints and only four color prints. Works such as Under the Lamp (lot 7) demonstrate her talent as a printmaker as early as 1882. By 1891, she had mastered techniques of etching, soft-ground, and aquatint. Aided by the printer Modeste Leroy (who she acknowledged as her collaborator in the inscriptions on lots 2, 4, and 5), she added color printing to her repertoire. After completing the set of ten, Cassatt would only make eight more color prints, including Feeding the Ducks (lot 6). These twenty-three etchings with aquatint in colors are each masterpieces of the 19th-century graphic arts.
While living in Paris, Cassatt belonged to an artists' group called La Société des peintres-Graveurs Français. In 1891, the Durand-Ruel gallery planned to host an exhibition for the printmakers. Prior to the exhibition, the president of the society, Henri Gurand, decided to exclude all non-native born French artists. His decision omitted Cassatt and her friend and colleague Camille Pissarro (born in the Dutch West Indies). Angered by the decision, she persuaded Durand-Ruel to hold a small exhibition for her and Pissarro. During this show, she presented her set of ten color etchings for the first time.
These ten color prints are among her best known images. At the time of their execution, she was already a mature artist and skilled printmaker. Before endeavoring on her masterworks, she had created approximately 126 prints and only four color prints. Works such as Under the Lamp (lot 7) demonstrate her talent as a printmaker as early as 1882. By 1891, she had mastered techniques of etching, soft-ground, and aquatint. Aided by the printer Modeste Leroy (who she acknowledged as her collaborator in the inscriptions on lots 2, 4, and 5), she added color printing to her repertoire. After completing the set of ten, Cassatt would only make eight more color prints, including Feeding the Ducks (lot 6). These twenty-three etchings with aquatint in colors are each masterpieces of the 19th-century graphic arts.