Nursing - Mary Cassatt
Archival giclée
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Description
A refined drypoint study by Mary Cassatt, capturing a quiet moment of motherhood with clean, expressive lines and a minimalist composition.
Mary Cassatt, an American painter and printmaker who spent much of her career in France, produced this drypoint and aquatint study during a period when she was deeply engaged with the technical possibilities of printmaking. Influenced by the exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints in Paris in 1890, Cassatt adopted a simplified aesthetic, focusing on clean lines and the economy of form. This work depicts a mother and child, a subject that occupied much of her artistic output.
The composition is sparse, relying on the precision of the drypoint needle to define the figures. The mother sits in a relaxed posture, her gaze directed away from the viewer, while the infant is cradled in her arms. Cassatt avoids unnecessary detail, allowing the negative space to contribute to the overall balance of the image. The lines are deliberate and fluid, capturing the weight of the fabric and the softness of the child's form without the need for heavy shading or complex textures. The table in the foreground provides a geometric anchor, contrasting with the organic curves of the figures.
Cassatt's approach to this subject matter avoids sentimentality. Instead, she treats the act of nursing as a formal exercise in observation and line. The print demonstrates her ability to convey intimacy through minimal means. By stripping away the background and focusing on the interaction between the two figures, she directs the viewer's attention to the quiet, domestic nature of the scene. This print is a clear example of her mastery over the intaglio process, where the pressure of the needle creates a burr that holds ink, resulting in the soft, velvety lines characteristic of her best work in this medium.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Nursing - Mary Cassatt
Artist Biography
Mary Cassatt
She grew up in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), in a prosperous family. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she found the instruction restrictive and the male students hostile. She moved to Paris in 1866, copied old masters in the Louvre, and studied privately with several painters before finding her direction with the Impressionists.
Her subject was women and children in domestic settings: mothers bathing infants, women reading, girls at the opera, women having tea. The subject matter sounds conventional. The treatment is not. She observed her subjects with the same unsentimental attention Degas brought to dancers. The compositions are cropped and angled, influenced by Japanese prints and by Degas's habit of painting people from unexpected viewpoints. Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878) shows a child sprawled across a chair with the boredom and physical abandon that adults rarely notice and painters rarely record.
She never married. She was wealthy enough not to need to sell her work. She used her position and her connections to persuade American collectors, particularly the Havemeyers, to buy Impressionist paintings. The Havemeyer collection, much of it acquired on Cassatt's advice, was donated to the Metropolitan Museum. She shaped the taste of American collectors more than any other single individual.
She developed cataracts and was nearly blind by 1914. She stopped painting. She died in 1926, at eighty-two.
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