The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 7, 2023

The Lamp

1890–91

Mary Cassatt

(American, 1844–1926)

America, 19th century

Drypoint, softground etching, and aquatint

Platemark: 32.1 x 25 cm (12 5/8 x 9 13/16 in.); Sheet: 44 x 27.8 cm (17 5/16 x 10 15/16 in.)

Bequest of Charles T. Brooks 1941.73

Catalogue raisonné: Mathews & Shapiro 6, Breeskin 144

State: M & S: II/IV, B: between II & III/III

Location

not on view

Description

The theme of a bourgeois woman "at home," coiffed and dressed to greet visitors, was a familiar one in Cassatt’s work, utilized in compositions such as Mimi as a Brunette. The position of the model as seen from behind may reflect the consideration of the nape of a woman’s neck as the ultimate symbol of beauty and eroticism in Japan.

Provenance
?-1941
Estate of Charles T. Brooks, Cleveland, OH
June 10, 1941
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

The Impressionist Aesthetic. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-October 31, 1982).

Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).

Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 7, 1993-January 2, 1994).

Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19-Century French Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008).

Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in Nineteenth-Century Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 20, 2013).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1941.73