A woman kneels in front of a round blue water filled tub, holding onto a toddler in her left arm.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A woman wears a yellow print long sleeve dress covering her body as her left hand leans in to test the water temperature. She faces left and looks into the tub on the left; her dark hair is tied into a bun behind her head. The nude toddler stands on the dress with both arms flopped over the woman’s right arm as she gently holds onto the baby. The child faces right, away from the tub and looking down to lower right. The background is undescribed with a simple line to separate wall from floor.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.24.1
People
Mary Cassatt, American (Allegheny City, PA 1844 - 1926 Le Mesnil-Theribus, France)
Modeste Leroy, French
Title
The Bath
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1890-1891
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/6108

Physical Descriptions

Technique
Drypoint, softground etching and aquatint
Dimensions
plate: 31.9 x 24.9 cm (12 9/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
sheet: 43.5 x 30.4 cm (17 1/8 x 11 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lower right, graphite pencil, in artist's hand : Imprimé par l'artiste et M. Leroy / Mary Cassatt / (25 épreuves)
  • stamp: center of lower platemark, blue ink, in artist's hand: Mary Cassatt's blue initial stamp (Lugt 604)
  • watermark: Arches

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
The artist; to Ambrose Vollard, Paris, 1926, bequest; to his heirs, 1939, sold; to Henri M. Petiet, Paris (Lugt 2021a), 1940, bequest; to his estate, 1980, sold; to Marc Rosen, New York, sold; to Harvard Art Museums, 2006

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
xvii/xvii (final)
Edition
25
Standard Reference Number
Breeskin 143; Mathews/Shapiro 5

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Dr. Ernest G. Stillman, Class of 1907, by exchange
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.24.1
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Marc Rosen, Susan Pinsky, Jay Cantor, Warren Adelson, and Barbara Stern Shapiro, Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio, exh. cat., Princeton University Press (Princeton, 2000), p. 79, repr.
  • Stephan Wolohojian and Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Harvard Art Museum/ Handbook, ed. Stephan Wolohojian, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, 2008), pp. 178-9, ill.
  • Jennifer Roberts, Contact: The Art and Pull of Print, Princeton University Press (Princeton and Oxford, 2024), pp. 83-84, repr. p. 84 as fig. 3.11

Exhibition History

  • Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio, Adelson Galleries, Inc., 11/10/2000 - 12/29/2000
  • 32Q: 2700 Impressionism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 04/03/2015

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights
  • Google Art Project

Related Objects

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu