In the Omnibus
Details
- Author / creator
- Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926)
- Object type
- Date or period
- 1890–91
- Dimensions summary
- Platemark: 36.6 × 26.8 cm
- Place of origin
- France
- Acquisition method
- Donation
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr and Mrs Harold Wren, 1941
- Paper / support
- Wove paper
- State and impression
- M & S: VII/VII, B: IV/IV
- Catalogue raisonné
- Mathews & Shapiro 7, Breeskin 145
About this object
This print belongs to a series of color etchings created by Mary Cassatt between 1890 and 1891. Each was influenced by the artist's study of Japanese woodblock prints, especially in their use of flat planes of color and domestic subject matter. In the scene depicted here, a middle-class woman accompanies her nursemaid and child on errands throughout Paris. The group rides in an omnibus, a form of public transportation where different genders and classes could intermingle. While the nanny's attention stays focused on her young charge, the female subject appears distracted, gazing toward the world beyond.
Materials and technique
Color drypoint and aquatint
Signature and marks
inscribed, in pencil, at lower right below platemark: Imprimé par l'artiste et M. Leroy / Mary Cassatt / (25 épreuves); stamped at bottom center, in blue ink, on platemark: MC [Lugt 604]
