Lot Essay
In the first state of this plate, Cassatt established the overall composition in soft-ground. The final state includes several layers of aquatint and line etching and was printed in color.
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A Portrait of the Artist's Mother (B. 122; M. & S. 4)
Details
MARY CASSATT
A Portrait of the Artist's Mother (B. 122; M. & S. 4)
soft-ground etching, circa 1889, on wove paper, Breeskin's first state (of seven) and Mathews & Shapiro's first state (of four), signed in pencil, with margins (left edge uneven), surface soiling, occasional soft handling creases, two small inclusions in the paper near the center of the figure, staining in the left margin, the palest time staining along the lower edge, a few stray fingerprints along the lower margin and at the upper corners, soiling on the reverse, otherwise in good condition
P. 10 x 7¼ in. (254 x 184 mm.)
S. 12 7/8 x 10 in. (327 x 254 mm.)
A Portrait of the Artist's Mother (B. 122; M. & S. 4)
soft-ground etching, circa 1889, on wove paper, Breeskin's first state (of seven) and Mathews & Shapiro's first state (of four), signed in pencil, with margins (left edge uneven), surface soiling, occasional soft handling creases, two small inclusions in the paper near the center of the figure, staining in the left margin, the palest time staining along the lower edge, a few stray fingerprints along the lower margin and at the upper corners, soiling on the reverse, otherwise in good condition
P. 10 x 7¼ in. (254 x 184 mm.)
S. 12 7/8 x 10 in. (327 x 254 mm.)
Provenance
Robert Hartshorne, New Jersey (L. 2215b)
By descent to the present owner.
By descent to the present owner.
Literature
A.D. Breeskin, The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt, New York, 1979, cat. 122.
Nancy Mowll Mathews and Barbara Shapiro, Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints, New York: Harry N. Abrams, and Williamstown, MA: Williams College Museum of Art, 1989, pp. 99-102, cat. 4.
Nancy Mowll Mathews and Barbara Shapiro, Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints, New York: Harry N. Abrams, and Williamstown, MA: Williams College Museum of Art, 1989, pp. 99-102, cat. 4.