The Fitting

The Fitting is a complex color print created by Mary Cassatt between 1890 and 1891. This work demonstrates the American artist’s technical mastery of layered printmaking, combining color drypoint, softground etching, and aquatint. Cassatt utilized this demanding combination to achieve subtle shifts in tone and texture, moving away from the purely reproductive capacity of earlier etchings toward a highly expressive, painterly result. The drypoint allows for rich, velvety lines, while the aquatint provides broad fields of color wash, characteristic of the innovative prints developed during this period.

The piece belongs to a pivotal series of eleven color prints that cemented Cassatt’s reputation as a groundbreaking graphic artist. It depicts a private, intimate moment concerning a woman's daily life, focusing on the quiet relationship between a standing female figure being fitted and a seated seamstress or helper. This focus on domestic labor and women’s specialized sphere aligns with Cassatt's overarching subject matter throughout the 1876 to 1900 period.

As an American expatriate working in France, Cassatt was deeply influenced by the compositional structures and unconventional perspectives of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, which had recently gained popularity in Europe. This influence is clearly visible in The Fitting through its flattened picture plane, strong linear outlines, and the deliberate use of pattern and asymmetrical cropping. Cassatt's sophisticated handling of color within the print medium allows the viewer to observe the subtle complexities inherent in ordinary life. These delicate and innovative prints stand as a unique contribution to the history of graphic art, defining a high point in late 19th-century technical experimentation. This important work resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., where it serves as a significant example of Cassatt’s pioneering approach to color printmaking.