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The Influence of Japanese Art in the Works of Mary Cassatt
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The Influence of Japanese Art in the Works of Mary Cassatt
3. Cassatt, Mary. The Bath. 1890-1891. Drypoint and aquatint on paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: nga.gov
2. Cassatt, Mary. Woman Bathing. 1891. Drypoint and aquatint on paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: nga.gov
Meredith Hopkins
Professor Gene Berryhill
ARTH 478 - 6380
Fall 2020
1. Cassatt, Mary. The Letter. 1890-1891. Drypoint and aquatint on paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: nga.gov
The influence of Ukiyo-e in Impressionist Mary Cassatt’s printmaking contributed to both the style and subjects of her unique portrayals of intimate moments in the everyday lives of women and children and also reflected the growing discourse between East and West taking place at the time.
Notes from the curator
A brief Biography of Mary Cassat
Mary Cassatt
Cassatt’s interest in printmaking arose after she became fascinated by the Japanese woodblock prints she saw at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1890 (Ives). These prints, depicting nature and ephemeral moments in daily life, held great appeal for Impressionists and Cassatt was no exception, finding in these prints “a fresh approach to the depiction of common events in women’s lives” (Ives). Cassatt adopted Japanese aesthetics and style in her printmaking but used her own methods, combining drypoint and aquatint, rather than woodblocks (Gascoigne). While she may be better known for her Impressionist paintings, Cassatt's Japanese-influenced prints that are impressive in their own right and it is those prints that are explored in this exhibition.
Mary Cassatt, although American, found her greatest artistic influences in Europe, both the through her time with the Impressionists and in the Japanese woodblock prints that flooded European art circles beginning in the mid 1800s. Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania in 1844, daughter of a wealthy family (Weinberg). At only 16 years old she began studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Potter). From there, she moved to Paris in 1865 at the age of 21 to continue studying art; barred from studying at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts because of her sex, she instead studied with renowned academic painter Jean-Leon Gerome (Gascoigne).Cassatt becoming associated with the Impressionists fundamentally changed her style of painting. It was Edgar Degas who invited Cassatt to join the Impressionists and exhibit with them and her friendship with him, while difficult, provided great influence and inspiration for her as an artist (Potter). With frequent feedback and comments from Degas, Cassatt refined her style by adopting Impressionist techniques and choosing subjects that would come to be associated with her work.
What is ukiyo-e?
ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e, Edo period Japanese woodblock prints depicting the “floating world” found their way to Europe during the decades following Japan’s opening to trade with the West in the 1850s (Abou-Jaoude). The Great Wave, or Under the Wave off Kanagawa, by Katsushika Hokusai is an example of a very famous ukiyo-e print.
Katsushika Hokusai. The Great Wave. ca. 1830-32. Woodblock print. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Image: metmuseum.org
Print making
Using the woodblock print methods of ukiyo-e artists, several people were involved in the process and multiple blocks had to be carved, one per color, making polychrome prints more labor-intensive and time-consuming (Hays; Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo-e Style). Mary Cassatt adopted the style of ukiyo-e artists but used different methods to make her prints, drypoint and aquatint (Gascoigne). Drypoint is a printmaking method in which the artist uses a sharp tool to etch into a metal plate without the use of acid (Process). Aquatint involves the use of powdered resin dusted on the printing plate followed by an acid bath to create pockets that hold ink and give prints an ink and wash look (Printmaking Techniques).
Printmaking
Drypoint needle being used. Image: magical-secrets.com
One of the ways in which ukiyo-e influenced Mary Cassatt was in choice of subjects. In particular, the works of Kitagawa Utamaro, appealed to Cassatt (Ives; Pollock). His woodblock prints included subjects that Cassatt took on when making her own prints including women with children, like The Bath, women engaged in their toilette, like Woman Bathing, and women reading and writing letters, like The Letter. These everyday moments in women's lives featured not just in Cassatt's prints but also in her Impressionist paintings, but in ukiyo-e she found fresh inspiration for how to
Subject
represent the ephemeral beauty of these moments.
Click on ukiyo-e to see an example of a ukiyo-e print featuring a similar subject.
1. Cassatt, Mary. The Letter. 1890-1891. Drypoint and aquatint on paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: nga.gov
ukiyo-e
4. Kitagawa Utamaro. High-Ranking Courtesan. 1794-1795. Woodblock print, ink and color on paper. Metropolitan Museum of art, New York. Image: metmuseum.org
In Woman Bathing, Cassatt uses an unusual perspective characteristic of ukiyo-e prints, in which the viewer appears to be looking at the same scene from above, from below, and directly ahead all at the same time (Ives). She also employs sloping and curving lines for the figure of the woman, similar to the lines often seen with figures in ukiyo-e prints.
Perspective and Line
Click on ukiyo-e to see an example of an Utamaro print with these characteristics.
2. Cassatt, Mary. Woman Bathing. 1891. Drypoint and aquatint on paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: nga.gov
Ukiyo-e
5. Kitagawa Utamaro. Two Tori-oi, or Itinerant Women Musicians of the Eta Class. Edo period. Woodblock print, ink and color on paper. MOA Museum of Art, Atami. Image: metmuseum.org
The use of color in The Bath is informed by ukiyo-e in two ways. First, the overall color palette is limited and uses mostly neutral colors with a bright color for contrast. It also uses obvious black outlining, especially for the figures, and their facial features are created with simple black lines.
Color
Click ukiyo-e to view an Utamaro print for comparison.
3. Cassatt, Mary. The Bath. 1890-1891. Drypoint and aquatint on paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: nga.gov
Ukiyo-e
6. Kitagawa Utamaro. Midnight: Mother and Sleepy Child. 1790. Woodblock print, ink and color on paper. MOA Museum of Art, Atami. Image: metmuseum.org
Works Cited
Works Cited
Abou-Jaoude, Amir Lowell. “A Pure Invention: Japan, Impressionism, and the West, 1853-1906.” History Teacher, vol. 50, no. 1, 2016, pp. 57-82.
Gascoigne, Laura. "A school of her own: Mary Cassatt's work remains as hard to classify as ever." Apollo, vol. 187, no. 664, May 2018, p. 100+. Gale Academic OneFile, https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/apps/doc/A539324291/AONE?u=umd_umuc&sid=AONE&xid=e50b5370. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020.
Hays, Jeffrey. “UKIYO-E (JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS): MAKING AND COLLECTING IT, SEX AND VAN GOGH.” Facts and Details, Oct. 2012, factsanddetails.com/japan/cat20/sub129/item695.html.
Ives, Colta. “Japonisme.” Metmuseum.org, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2004, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm.
“Mary Cassatt.” National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, n.d., www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1107.html. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020.
Pollock, Griselda. Mary Cassatt: Painter of Modern Women. Thames and Hudson, 1998.
Potter, Polyxeni. “Women Caring for Children in ‘the Floating World.’” Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 12, no. 11, Nov. 2006, pp. 1808–1809.
“Printmaking Techniques.” The Clark Art Institute, The Clark Art Institute, www.clarkart.edu/microsites/impressionist-line/about/printmaking-techniques.
“Process.” Magical Secrets, magical-secrets.com/process/. Accessed 12 Oct 2020.
Weinberg, H Barbara. “Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926).” Metmuseum.org, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2004, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cast/hd_cast.htm.
“Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo-e Style.” Metmuseum.org, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2003, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ukiy/hd_ukiy.htm.