Woman Bathing

Mary Cassatt, 1890–1891

A pale-skinned woman bends over a basin of water on a washstand in this vertical, colored print. The woman is angled away from us so only her ear and the curve of her forehead are visible beyond her hunched shoulder. Her upper body is bare, her dress having been unfastened so it hangs around her waist. The dress is striped with frosty green, shell pink, and the cream white of the paper. Light gleams on her dark brown hair, which is tied up and back. She cups her hands in the light blue water of the white basin. Two bottles sit at the back corner of the washstand, and a mirror reflects the top of her head. The fawn-brown washstand is boxy, and a handled white pitcher painted with muted pink flowers is at the front left corner, which is closest to us. The wall beyond the washstand is pale, arctic blue, as is the carpet, which is also patterned with pea -green leaves. The artist signed the work in graphite under the lower right corner, “Mary Cassatt.”
Artist
Mary Cassatt
Date
1890–1891
Type
Print
Medium
color drypoint, softground etching, and aquatint on laid paper
Dimensions
36.83 × 26.35 cm
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licence
Public domain, CC0

Image description

A pale-skinned woman bends over a basin of water on a washstand in this vertical, colored print. The woman is angled away from us so only her ear and the curve of her forehead are visible beyond her hunched shoulder. Her upper body is bare, her dress having been unfastened so it hangs around her waist. The dress is striped with frosty green, shell pink, and the cream white of the paper. Light gleams on her dark brown hair, which is tied up and back. She cups her hands in the light blue water of the white basin. Two bottles sit at the back corner of the washstand, and a mirror reflects the top of her head. The fawn-brown washstand is boxy, and a handled white pitcher painted with muted pink flowers is at the front left corner, which is closest to us. The wall beyond the washstand is pale, arctic blue, as is the carpet, which is also patterned with pea -green leaves. The artist signed the work in graphite under the lower right corner, “Mary Cassatt.”

Mary Cassatt