213

Mary Cassatt

(1844-1926)

Picking Daisies in a Field.

Drypoint and color aquatint, circa 1893.
First state (of 2). Edition of approximately only two. Initialed in pencil, lower right. Breeskin 156+.
Plate: 13 x 17 1/8 in. (33 x 43.5 cm.), wide margins.

  • Notes:

    In 1890, Mary Cassatt (with her friend Edgar Degas) visited the École des Beaux-Arts to view the groundbreaking exhibit of Japanese prints. While she had likely seen Japanese prints in the print shops of Paris, viewing the works together in an exhibition space allowed the two artists to fully appreciate the way in which the Japanese artists used color and form in a way distinctly different from their own practices.

    At the time, Cassatt was preparing for a solo exhibition scheduled for 1891 at Durand-Ruel, and created a series of large color prints, which are considered one of her greatest accomplishments. Since she was not familiar with woodcut, she used drypoint and soft ground or aquatint to mimic the broad lines and color of the Japanese woodblocks. She worked tirelessly on the prints, the first of which titled The Bath went to thirteen trial proofs.

    After the completion of these ten initial prints, Cassatt continued to work with color in her graphic work. Picking Daisies in a Field was created a few years after she created the initial ten plates, and is a rare example of Cassatt's working method during this period in which she was creating large, colorful works. Breeskin notes that this is an unfinished work, with only two impressions known. While Cassatt abandoned this composition, it illustrates the working process of an artist who was at the forefront of color printing in the late 19th century.
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