The Coiffure 1890 - 1891

Mary Cassatt created this drypoint and aquatint print, “The Coiffure,” in the late 1890s, an era when the boundaries of gender roles were being challenged and renegotiated in Europe and America. The image depicts a woman in an intimate moment of grooming. The visual language here is fascinating. Made in France, this artwork consciously references Japanese prints which were highly fashionable at the time, but it also subtly subverts the male gaze often associated with similar subjects in Western art history. Instead of overt sexualization, Cassatt focuses on the woman's self-possession and quiet absorption in her own ritual. To understand this print fully, we must consider its place in the broader social context of the time. Feminist scholarship, historical archives, and studies of gender and representation are essential resources for understanding the revolutionary nature of Cassatt’s vision and the politics of imagery in her time.