The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

The Visitor (recto); The Visitor (verso)

The Visitor (recto); The Visitor (verso)

c. 1881
(American, 1844–1926)
America, 19th century
black and tan pencil
Sheet: 40 x 30.9 cm (15 3/4 x 12 3/16 in.)
Gift of Fifty Members of The Print Club of Cleveland on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary 1966.176
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This drawing's first owner was the artist Edgar Degas, a friend of Cassatt's and a collaborator in her experiments with etching.

Description

Mary Cassatt produced this sheet as a working drawing for an etching of the same title. She framed the subject's slanted silhouette against the verticals and horizontals of the window, and featured a seated figure in profile in the lower left quadrant of the composition. The bold, dramatic contrasts of sunlight and shadow throughout the room contrast with the delicacy and sensitivity with which the visitor's face were drawn by Cassatt from direct observation.
  • Edgar Degas, Paris
    acquired from artist by Edgar Degas, Paris, c. 1880-1917; [his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 15-16 November, 1918, no. 82]; René de Gas, Paris [all this according to Chicago et. al. 1998]
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 189 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 189 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 234 archive.org
    Cassatt, Mary, Shalini Le Gall, Justin McCann, Justine de Young, and Daniel Harkett. Inside Out: The Prints of Mary Cassatt. 2021, 24. Mentioned and reproduced, p. 24, fig. 7
  • Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in Nineteenth-Century Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 20, 2013).
    Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 7, 1993-January 2, 1994).
    Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).
    The Impressionist Aesthetic. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-October 31, 1982).
    The Print Club of Cleveland, 1919 - 1969: Fifty Years in Review. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 14-March 31, 1970).
  • {{cite web|title=The Visitor (recto); The Visitor (verso)|url=false|author=Mary Cassatt|year=c. 1881|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.176