121. The Coiffure. Mary Cassatt. 1890-1891 CE Drypoint and Aquatint.

• Form
  • No posing or acting; the figures possess a natural charm
  • Cassatt’s work possesses a tenderness foreign to other Impressionists
  • The figures are from everyday life
  • Pastel color scheme
  • The work contains contrasting sensuous curves of the female figure with straight lines of the furniture and wall.
  • Japanese influence
    • Decorative charm
    • Japanese hair style
    • Japanese point of view: figure seen from the back
    • Graceful lines of the neck
• Function
  • Paty of a series of ten prints exhibited together at a Paris gallery in 1891
• Technique
  • Drypoint and aquatint
  • Drypoint yields soft dense lines
  • Aquatint is generally used with engravings like drypoint; it also yields flat colored areas on a print
• Context
  • Cassatt’s world is filled with women; women as independent and not needing men to complete themselves; women who enjoy the company of other women
  • The mother and child theme is a specialty of Cassatt
  • She is among the first Impressionist artists seen in the USA
  • She acted as an advisor to wealthy American collectors as to what Impressionist works to buy