Woman Bathing

Woman Bathing is a seminal print created by Mary Cassatt between 1890 and 1891. This exquisite piece belongs to a highly influential series of ten color prints that marked a significant achievement late in Cassatt’s career. The execution is technically complex, involving a meticulous combination of color drypoint, softground etching, and aquatint, all applied to laid paper. This commitment to sophisticated printmaking reflects the broader engagement of artists during the period of 1876 to 1900 with modern graphic techniques, notably incorporating the flattened planes and pattern arrangements derived from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

Cassatt frequently focused on the private, domestic lives of women, a theme that distinguishes her within the American context and the larger Impressionist circle. While the subject of the bather was common in European art, Cassatt approached these scenes with a reserved intimacy, focusing on the ritualistic and ordinary moments of daily life rather than idealized or mythological presentations. The delicate tonal variations achieved through the aquatint process lend the scene a soft, atmospheric quality, typical of the late 19th-century aesthetics. Cassatt brought a distinct vision to the field of graphic arts, quickly establishing herself as a master printer.

The technical ingenuity displayed in the printing of Woman Bathing secured Cassatt's reputation and established a new standard for color etching in the early 20th century. These sophisticated experiments confirm her position as one of the most prominent American artists working internationally during the 1876 to 1900 period. This important example of American graphic art is housed in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. Due to the museum’s commitment to accessibility, high-resolution images of the piece are frequently shared, contributing this valuable artistic record to the corpus of public domain art resources.