The Coiffure

Mary Cassatt

National Gallery of Art

A pale-skinned woman, nude from the waist up, gathers her hair in her raised hands as she sits before a mirror in this vertical, colored print. The large mirror is to our right, and the woman’s body is mostly turned away from us. Her head is bowed but a loose tendril of brown hair hanging beside one cheek is reflected in the mirror. Her lower body is wrapped in a voluminous off-white cloth as she leans forward on a curved terracotta-red and white striped armchair. Her facial features, the contours of her body, and the folds of the towel are all delineated with thin strokes of tawny brown. The mirror is set into a tan wall, and the wall beyond and carpet below her covered with abstract floral patterns. The wall has a dusty-rose motif over lighter pink background while the carpet pattern is tan against muted dark pink background. The wall and chair are reflected in the mirror in paler tones. A mark with an oval, or a mirrored C, over an uppercase M, is stamped in royal blue at the bottom center of the print. The sheet is inscribed with graphite across the right half of the bottom margin, “Imprimée par l’artiste et M. Leroy Mary Cassatt (25 épreuves)."