Interpretive Resource

In the print Evening, Mary Cassatt evoked the tranquility of domestic life. Although in close physical proximity, the two figures seem barely aware of each other. Absorbed in their own endeavors—one reading, the other mending—they enjoy a quiet night at home. While comfortable together, they are also respectful of each other’s need for individual concentration. Well before Cassatt accepted Edgar Degas’s invitation in 1877 to exhibit with the Impressionists, she explored subjects of modern life, keenly observing the daily activities of her own household. The models for Evening were her mother, Katherine, and her sister, Lydia; by presenting them from a close but elevated point of view, Cassatt struck a delicate balance of familiarity and objective distance.

The mood of Evening is further enhanced by Cassatt’s bold approach to her medium. She established the structure of the composition in soft-ground etching, in which a sticky, tallow-based ground is covered with a sheet of drawing paper to allow the artist to create the design with a pencil rather than a needle. For rich tonality, Cassatt applied broad areas of aquatint, a resinous ground that creates a subtle textural surface when the plate is immersed in acid. Degas had urged Cassatt to try printmaking, planning in 1879 to produce a journal entitled Le Jour et la Nuit (Day and Night) that would feature their etchings. Evening may have been intended for this publication, but the project was never realized. Cassatt’s interest in the medium continued, and she became one of the most innovative printmakers in the Impressionist circle.