The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

The Fitting

1890–91

Mary Cassatt

(American, 1844–1926)
America
color drypoint and aquatint
Platemark: 37.6 x 25.5 cm (14 13/16 x 10 1/16 in.); Sheet: 42.7 x 31.4 cm (16 13/16 x 12 3/8 in.)
Bequest of Charles T. Brooks 1941.72
Catalogue raisonné: Mathews & Shapiro 9, Breeskin 147
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The artist Camille Pissarro described the series of prints to which this work belongs as "admirable, as beautiful as Japanese work," praising Cassatt's translation of ukiyo-e woodblocks.

Description

This print belongs to a set of ten color etchings that Mary Cassatt displayed at her first exhibition, held at Paris's Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1891. To create the image of a woman being fitted for a gown by a seamstress, the artist worked with multiple printing plates and "painted" ink onto the surface of each by hand. As a result, although the prints exist in multiples, each is virtually unique.
  • ?-1941
    Charles T. Brooks, Cleveland, OH
    June 10, 1941
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Richards, Louise S. “Mary Cassatt’s Drawing of the Visitor.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 8 (October 1978): 268–276. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 275-276, fig. 9 www.jstor.org
    Lees, Sarah and Richard R. Brettell. Innovative Impressions: Prints by Cassatt, Degas, and Pissarro. Exh. Cat. Tulsa, OK: Philbrook Museum of Art, 2018 Mentioned: p. 75; Reproduced: p. 76, fig. 85
    Thompson, Jennifer A., and Laurel Garber. Mary Cassatt at Work. Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2024. Reproduced: p. 140, fig. 79
  • Mary Cassatt at Work. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (May 18-September 8, 2024) https://www.philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/mary-cassatt-at-work.
    Innovative Impressions: Cassatt, Degas, and Pissarro as Painter-Printmakers. Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK (organizer) (June 9-September 9, 2018).
    Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in 19th-Century Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 20, 2013).
    Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19-Century French Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001).
    Printing in Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-November 17, 1985).
    The Impressionist Aesthetic. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-October 31, 1982).
    Japonisme: Japanese Influence on French Art, 1854 - 1910. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 9-August 31, 1975); Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ (October 4-November 16, 1975); Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD (December 10, 1975-January 26, 1976).
    What Was the Armory Show?. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 27-September 15, 1963).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
  • {{cite web|title=The Fitting|url=false|author=Mary Cassatt|year=1890–91|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1941.72