Open full image Pin

In the Omnibus

Mary Cassatt

1890

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Genre Scene

Dominant colour

In the Omnibus is a 1890 by Mary Cassatt, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Mary Cassatt
When & what style?: 1890 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This quiet print shows three women—an elegant lady, her nursemaid, and a child—in a crowded Paris bus. Cassatt flattens shapes like Japanese prints, using simple colors and strong lines. The nursemaid holds the child close while the lady gazes ahead, lost in thought. Cassatt often painted women’s daily lives, but this scene feels fresh. Buses let strangers mix, something new in 1890s Paris. The artist’s lines are sharp, her colors bold, yet the mood stays calm. See it next to Cassatt’s other omnibus scenes at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

This print belongs to a series of color etchings created by Mary Cassatt between 1890 and 1891. Each was influenced by the artist's study of Japanese woodblock prints, especially in their use of flat planes of color and domestic subject matter. In the scene depicted here, a middle-class woman accompanies her nursemaid and child on errands throughout Paris. The group rides in an omnibus, a form of public transportation where different genders and classes could intermingle. While the nanny's attention stays focused on her young charge, the female subject appears distracted, gazing toward the…

Did you know?

The artist Camille Pissarro described the series of prints to which this work belongs as "admirable, as beautiful as Japanese work," praising Cassatt's translation of Ukiyo-e woodblocks.

Read the full account in the museum source.