Liu 17 other hand, Cassatt’s lines are more deliberate and fragile, and she uses multiple fragmented strokes to create a curve. The curves in the folds of her subject’s clothing are less boldly rounded than those of Utamaro’s.46
Figure 10. Utamaro, Kitagawa. A Woman Figure 11. Cassatt, Mary. The Fitting, 1890Dressing a Girl for a Kabuki Dance “Musume 91. Drypoint and aquatint, 16 13/16 x 11 3/4 Dojōji,” with “Brother Picture” (E-kyōdai) of in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. a Monkey Trainer, ca. 1795-96. Woodblock print in the e-kyodai format. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The same holds true for Cassatt’s print The Letter (See Fig.12), possibly inspired by Utamaro’s print Hinazuru of the Keizetsuro (See Fig. 13). Cassatt had continued borrowing themes from ukiyo-e beyond mother-child relationships, unwittingly adopting the allusion of the Japanese oiran (prostitute) with a towel to her mouth in this work. The Letter retained the same modest downward glance as Utamaro’s depiction of the courtesan, with both women averting
46
Ives, The Great Wave, 53.
