The Letter
1890–91
Medium
Color aquatint and drypoint on off-white laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 34.5 × 21.1 cm (13 5/8 × 8 5/16 in.); Sheet: 43.7 × 29.7 cm (17 1/4 × 11 3/4 in.)
Classification
drypoint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
13508
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Mary Cassatt began a series of color prints in 1890 that exemplify her indebtedness to Japanese color woodblock prints and her thematic focus on figures in interiors. In The Letter, Cassatt used the patterns of the woman's dress and wallpaper as well as vibrant printing inks to manipulate space and formal elements inspired by Japanese art. The subject matter reflects the artist's focus on women indoors because contemporary social mores restricted their activities outside the home.
Art Historical Context
Mary Cassatt's *The Letter* (1890–91), a delicate color aquatint andpoint on off-white laid, captures an intimate moment in the artist's signature style. Measuring 34.5 × 21.1 cm for the image, this print from the Art Institute of Chicago Prints and Drawings collection exemplifies Cassatt's fascination with everyday domestic life, often centering women in quiet, personal activities. As an American Impressionist who lived and worked in Paris, Cassatt was a trailazing female artist in a male-dominated field. She exhibited with the Impressionists and, in the early 1890s, immersed herself in printmaking, inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e woodblocks. Her innovative use of color aquatint—producing soft tonal gradients through etched resin dust—combined with the sharp, velvety lines of drypoint, allowed for vibrant hues and subtle textures rarely seen in Western prints at the time. This work highlights Cassatt's technical mastery and cultural bridge between East and West, making complex print processes accessible and modern. Visitors will appreciate how it reflects late 19th-century shifts toward personal narratives and bold experimentation in art.
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...