Mimi Holding a Japanese Fan

Art Historical Context

Mary Cassatt's *Mimi Holding a Japanese* (c. 1889) captures an intimate moment through the delicate medium of drypoint, a printmaking technique where the artist scratches directly a metal plate to create rich, velvety lines subtle burrs that add texture and depth. This 11 3/4 × 8 3/8-inch plate exemplifies Cassatt's mastery of intaglio printing, allowing her to achieve the soft, expressive effects akin to her pastel and oil paintings. As an American Impressionist living in Paris, Cassatt was deeply influenced by Japanese woodblock prints during the late 19th-century Japonisme craze sweeping Europe, evident here in the fan's elegant motif. The subject, likely Cassatt's young niece Mimi, gazes thoughtfully, her pose relaxed and modern, reflecting the artist's focus on women and children in domestic scenes. This work showcases Cassatt's innovative blend of Impressionist light and color with precise printmaking, bridging fine art and reproductive media. Part of the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection, it highlights her pivotal role in introducing Japanese aesthetics to Western audiences, making her prints both accessible and revolutionary. (198 words)

About the Artist

Mary Cassatt · 1844–1926

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter and printmaker who became the only American artist to exhibit with the French Impressionists. Born to a wealthy Pennsylvania family, she defied social conventions to pursue art professionally, settling permanently in Paris where Edgar Degas invited her to join the Impressionist group in 1877. Her paintings of mothers and children—rendered with Impre...