Portrait of the Artist's Mother - Mary Cassatt
Archival giclée
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Description
A delicate drypoint and aquatint portrait by Mary Cassatt, capturing her mother in a quiet, contemplative moment.
This work is a drypoint and aquatint by Mary Cassatt, depicting her mother, Katherine Kelso Johnston Cassatt. The composition captures a quiet, domestic moment, a recurring theme in the artist's oeuvre. Her mother sits in a relaxed posture, her hand resting near her chin, conveying a sense of contemplation. The use of drypoint allows for delicate, expressive lines, while the aquatint provides soft tonal areas that define the forms and shadows within the scene.
Cassatt, an American artist who spent much of her career in France, was closely associated with the Impressionist circle. Her work often explored the private lives of women, moving away from the grand historical or mythological subjects common in the academic art of the period. In this print, the focus remains on the personal connection between the artist and her subject. The background is simplified, featuring a vase of flowers that adds a subtle decorative element without distracting from the figure. The muted colour palette, dominated by earthy tones and soft yellows, contributes to the intimate atmosphere of the portrait.
Technically, this print demonstrates Cassatt's mastery of intaglio printmaking. She experimented with the medium throughout the 1880s and 1890s, often drawing inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints in her approach to composition and flat areas of colour. The balance between the dark, solid mass of the dress and the lighter, textured shawl creates a visual rhythm that guides the viewer's eye across the image. This print offers a glimpse into the domestic sphere of the late nineteenth century, rendered with a sensitivity that avoids sentimentality. It remains a clear example of how Cassatt utilised printmaking to explore light, form, and human character.
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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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Manufacturing
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.
Care and materials
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
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
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
Portrait of the Artist's Mother - 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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