The Letter (1890–91): Artwork and History

The Letter (1890–91) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926) printed with Leroy (French, active 1876-1900).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Mary Cassatt began a series of color prints in 1890 that exemplify her indebtedness to Japanese color woodblock prints and her thematic focus on figures in interiors. In The Letter, Cassatt used the patterns of the woman's dress and wallpaper as well as vibrant printing inks to manipulate space and formal elements inspired by Japanese art. The subject matter reflects the artist's focus on women indoors because contemporary social mores restricted their activities outside the home.

Object facts

• Title: The Letter
• Date: 1890–91
• Artist attribution: Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926) printed with Leroy (French, active 1876-1900)
• Place of origin: United States
• Medium: Color aquatint and drypoint on off-white laid paper
• Dimensions: Image/plate: 34.5 × 21.1 cm (13 5/8 × 8 5/16 in.); Sheet: 43.7 × 29.7 cm (17 1/4 × 11 3/4 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1932.1282

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.