The Bath

The Bath by Mary Cassatt, created between 1890 and 1891, is a masterful print combining several techniques, including color drypoint, softground etching, and aquatint, executed on delicate Japanese paper. This complex choice of medium demonstrates Cassatt’s rigorous exploration of printmaking during the period designated as 1876 to 1900. The work belongs to a series of ten color prints the artist completed after being inspired by the 1890 exhibition of Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts held at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

This specific piece captures an intimate, everyday scene: a woman washing a small child’s feet, a subject central to Cassatt’s long-standing focus on the domestic lives of women and children. The composition is notable for its high viewpoint, bold use of pattern, and lack of traditional perspectival depth, features directly derived from the aesthetic lessons Cassatt absorbed from Japanese art. The flattening of the picture plane, combined with the application of color through the aquatint process, allows the lines established by the drypoint and softground etching to define form with clarity and elegance.

As a prominent American expatriate working within the orbit of the French Impressionists, Cassatt consistently used her art to elevate common, unidealized depictions of female experience. This methodology positioned her work distinctly apart from academic traditions, lending realism and gravity to seemingly mundane tasks. The deliberate layering of the various printmaking techniques in the execution of The Bath showcases her technical mastery and commitment to establishing color prints as a significant modern art form. This essential work resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., representing a key contribution by an American artist to late 19th-century graphic arts.