American Monotypes from the Baker/Pisano Collection | Page 27

Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926)
Portrait of a Young Woman in Green, ca. 1898

Pastel counterproof, 24 5/8 x 18 3/4 in.
Baker/Pisano Collection, New York, promised gift to the Chazen
Museum of Art

The counterproof is a kissing cousin to the monotype. The
process involves placing a moistened piece of paper over a
pastel drawing and running both through a printing press, the
result being a reversed image of the original pastel transferred
onto the other sheet. The archetypal American expatriate
artist, Mary Cassatt moved to Paris in 1865 and except for a
short return to the United States, lived and worked in France
for the rest of her life. She is most closely associated with the
French Impressionists; indeed, she is the only American asked
to exhibit with them. Her closest affinity was with Degas,
who shared her interest in experimenting with print processes.
Around 1905, the Paris dealer Ambroise Vollard arranged for
Mary Cassatt to work with master printer Auguste Clot to
print counterproofs of many of her pastels. Portrait of a Young
Woman in Green, along with other Cassatt counterproofs,
remained in the collection of Vollard until his death in 1939,
when it was transferred to his estate. These works did not resurface until nearly sixty years later. The sitter was Cassatt’s cousin,
Mrs. Clement B. Newbold, formerly Mary Dickinson Scott.
NOTES:
Baker and Tabler, French Connection, 47.
Cantor and Ivinski, Art in a Mirror, 42, cat. no. 4, illus.

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