Young Girl with a Cat

Young Girl with a Cat is a print created by Berthe Morisot French, 1841-1895, in 1889. This intimate work is executed in drypoint, a delicate intaglio technique allowing Morisot to achieve a soft, feathery line quality on cream laid paper. Unlike traditional etching, drypoint involves scratching directly into the copper plate with a sharp needle, which raises a burr that captures the ink. This mechanical process results in rich, velvety blacks when printed, lending the image a tactile sense of depth. Morisot, a foundational figure within the Impressionist movement in France, often prioritized domestic scenes and the private lives of women and children, offering a sensitive, immediate perspective characteristic of her oeuvre.

The subject of the print centers on a quiet, casual moment between a young girl and her feline companion. Morisot’s spontaneous, sketch-like approach captures the fleeting innocence of childhood, prioritizing atmosphere and subtle emotion over rigid classical drawing. While primarily known for her oil paintings and pastels, Morisot produced a small but technically significant body of prints throughout her career. These works, including Young Girl with a Cat, demonstrate her consistent commitment to capturing the effects of light and texture through rapid, energetic lines, proving the drypoint medium was uniquely suited to her Impressionistic aims. Created at the height of artistic innovation in late nineteenth-century France, the piece illuminates the artist's mastery across multiple disciplines. This important work is preserved in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.