The Coiffure 1890 - 1891

Mary Cassatt, an American artist working in late 19th-century France, created "The Coiffure" using drypoint and aquatint, techniques that allowed for delicate lines and subtle tonal variations. Cassatt, born into a wealthy family, often depicted the private lives of women, a subject matter accessible to her as a woman in that society. Here, we see a woman in a moment of intimate self-care, arranging her hair, seemingly unaware of the viewer's gaze. The print is a study in contrasts: the woman’s exposed back against the patterned wallpaper, the implied weight of her body against the lightness of the fabric draped around her waist. Consider how Cassatt, as a female artist, navigated the male-dominated art world of her time, choosing to depict women not as objects of male desire, but as individuals with their own interior lives and private rituals. The work offers a quiet, yet powerful commentary on the female experience and the act of seeing and being seen.