{"id":1447,"date":"2026-06-01T00:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T22:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horscadre.paris\/little-girl-in-a-blue-armchair-the-painting-of-scandal-and-freedom\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T22:43:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:43:04","slug":"little-girl-in-a-blue-armchair-the-painting-of-scandal-and-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horscadre.paris\/en\/little-girl-in-a-blue-armchair-the-painting-of-scandal-and-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Girl in a Blue Armchair \u2014 The Painting of Scandal and Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paris, summer of 1878.<\/strong> Mary Cassatt is thirty-four years old. She has been living in Paris for thirteen years. She has participated in seven official Salons<\/strong>, exhibiting her work between 1868 and 1876. But in 1877<\/strong>, the Salon jury rejected both of her submissions<\/strong>. She found herself in direct conflict<\/strong> with the French art establishment. That same year, Edgar Degas knocked on her door on<\/strong> Rue de Laval to invite her to exhibit with the Impressionists\u2014an invitation she accepted. <\/p>\n\n

The Impressionist exhibition scheduled for 1878 was postponed to 1879<\/strong> due to competition withthe 1878 World\u2019s Fair<\/strong> in Paris. Cassatt therefore came up with another plan: to<\/strong> exhibit her new painting, Portrait of a Little Girl<\/em><\/strong>, in the American section<\/strong> of the World\u2019s Fair. It is a large-format work<\/strong> \u201489.5 \u00d7 129.8 centimeters, almost twice the size of her usual portraits. She worked on it for months, receiving advice and even having parts of it repainted<\/strong> by her friend Edgar Degas, who himself painted the background featuring the window<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

The American jury at the 1878 World\u2019s Fair rejected the painting.<\/strong> Three jurors, including \u201ca pharmacist,\u201d<\/em> as Cassatt would later recall with mocking bitterness. Mary Cassatt was furious.<\/strong> All the more so, she would write to Ambroise Vollard twenty-five years later, \u201csince he [Degas] had worked on it.\u201d<\/em> The daughter of Pennsylvania\u2019s banking elite, trained under G\u00e9r\u00f4me in Paris, and an exhibitor at the Salon for ten years, was rejected by a pharmacist<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

This article recounts the genesis of this work, which caused a double scandal<\/strong> \u2014it was rejected by the American jury at the 1878 World\u2019s Fair, then triumphantly presented at the 4th Impressionist Exhibition<\/strong> in April 1879 as the signature work<\/strong> of Cassatt\u2019s first official participation in the movement. It also explores the secret collaboration<\/strong> between Cassatt and Degas, revealed by a recent infrared photograph from the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington; the small Brussels Griffon dog<\/strong> that Degas gave to Cassatt; and the unique historical significance of this painting, which, in fact, marks the<\/strong> beginning of Mary Cassatt\u2019s entire Impressionist career<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

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1877 \u2014 The Break with the Salon<\/h3>\n\n

To understand the origins of *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em><\/strong>, we must go back to 1877<\/strong>, a pivotal year<\/strong> in Mary Cassatt\u2019s career.<\/p>\n\n

From her debut in 1868<\/strong>, Cassatt exhibited at the Paris Salon<\/strong>. There she enjoyed some success\u2014 During the carnival<\/em><\/strong> at the 1872 Salon, *Bullfighter and Young Girl*<\/em><\/strong> in 1873 (a work very similar in color palette to Manet\u2019s, which drew attention from critics). Her Spanish and Oriental subjects earned her a modest reputation<\/strong> in official Parisian art circles. <\/p>\n\n

But starting in 1875<\/strong>, the Salon jury became more stringent<\/strong>. Cassatt was rejected in 1875<\/strong>. She was accepted again in 1876. Then she was rejected once more in 1877<\/strong> \u2014 two paintings rejected in quick succession<\/strong>. The jury at the time was dominated by academic painters\u2014 Alexandre Cabanel<\/strong>, L\u00e9on Bonnat<\/strong>, William Bouguereau<\/strong> \u2014whose polished aesthetic Cassatt openly despised. The feeling was mutual<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Cassatt, deeply hurt<\/strong>, was going through a period of uncertainty<\/strong>. She was considering returning to the United States<\/strong>. She wrote to her family in Pennsylvania to discuss the possibility of a career in America<\/strong>. But Paris remained, in her eyes, the only place<\/strong> where modern painting was being created. She hesitated. <\/p>\n\n

It was against this backdrop of institutional upheaval<\/strong> that Edgar Degas<\/strong> visited her at her studio on Rue de Laval<\/strong> in the spring of 1877<\/strong>. Degas had been noticing Cassatt\u2019s work since 1874\u2014he is said to have remarked while standing before one of her paintings on display at the Salon: \u201cHere is someone who feels the same way I do.\u201d<\/em> Three years later, he came to offer her an alternative<\/strong>: to join the Impressionists<\/strong>, that group of independent artists who, since 1874<\/strong>, had been organizing their own exhibitions on the fringes of the Salon. <\/p>\n\n

Cassatt accepted enthusiastically<\/strong>. In her own words, as she recounted much later to her friend Louisine Havemeyer, \u201cit meant freedom.\u201d<\/em> Leaving the Salon jury. Choosing a side. Joining an avant-garde rejected by the institution<\/strong>, whose fate she now shared. <\/p>\n\n

The Impressionist exhibition scheduled for 1878<\/strong> was, however, postponed until 1879<\/strong> \u2014Degas and the group believed that competition with the 1878 World\u2019s Fair<\/strong> would overshadow any other art exhibition. Cassatt therefore had to wait a year<\/strong> before participating in the group\u2019s exhibition for the first time. <\/p>\n\n

She decided to use the year 1878 to pursue two goals simultaneously<\/strong>: to prepare for her triumphant debut<\/strong> among the Impressionists in 1879, and<\/strong> to make one last attempt to gain recognition<\/strong> within the American section<\/strong> of the 1878 Paris World\u2019s Fair.<\/p>\n\n

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The Painting \u2014 What It Depicts<\/h3>\n\n

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair<\/em><\/strong> is an oil on canvas<\/strong> measuring 89.5 \u00d7 129.8 centimeters<\/strong> \u2014 a horizontal<\/strong>, wide<\/strong> format<\/strong>. Unlike the intimate maternal works Cassatt would produce later, this is an ambitious large-scale piece<\/strong>, a portrait fit for a parlor<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

The composition features four main elements:<\/p>\n\n

In the center of the painting<\/strong> is a little girl<\/strong>, about four or five years old<\/strong>, wearing a white polka-dot dress with a lace collar<\/strong>, a plaid belt<\/strong>, white socks<\/strong>, and black slippers<\/strong>. She is slumped<\/strong> in an armchair. She is not sitting upright, as was customary in children\u2019s portraits\u2014instead, she is slumped<\/strong>, her legs dangling, her arms casually resting<\/strong> on the armrests, her absent gaze<\/strong> turned toward the right corner of the painting. Sheis openly bored<\/strong>, tired of posing<\/strong>, perhaps even sulking. <\/p>\n\n

Next to her, on the right<\/strong>, a small dog<\/strong> is curled up in another blue armchair<\/strong>, asleep<\/strong> with its head resting on its paws. It is a Brussels Griffon<\/strong> \u2014a Belgian breed, small and shaggy, which was rare in France<\/strong> at the time. The dog is sleeping in the armchair\u2014something that would<\/strong> have been forbidden<\/strong> in a respectable bourgeois home of the 1870s. <\/p>\n\n

All around the two figures<\/strong>, several blue armchairs<\/strong> with green and beige floral patterns are scattered haphazardly<\/strong> throughout the room. They\u2019re not lined up. They\u2019re not symmetrical. It\u2019s as if someone had just moved the furniture<\/strong> or as if no one cared<\/strong> about how it was arranged. <\/p>\n\n

At the back of the room<\/strong>, a large window<\/strong> opens onto the light-filled outdoors. The cool light<\/strong> streams in from the left, illuminating the armchairs<\/strong> in the foreground and setting off<\/strong> the child’s silhouette. <\/p>\n\n

The color palette<\/strong> is dominated by the deep turquoise blues<\/strong> of the armchairs. \u201cIt dazzles with its dominant shade of deep turquoise<\/em>, \u201d<\/em> art critic Karen Rosenberg would write in The New York Times<\/em>. The off-whites<\/strong> (dress, socks, skin) and warm browns<\/strong> (wood floor, dog) contrast with this central blue. <\/p>\n\n

The composition is radically unconventional<\/strong> for a portrait of a child from 1878. At the time, portraits of children<\/strong> followed a specific protocol: the child sitting upright<\/strong>, well-dressed<\/strong>, facing<\/strong> the viewer head-on or<\/strong> in a three-quarter profile<\/strong>, against a neutral background<\/strong> or in a tidy garden, with a well-behaved dog<\/strong> at his feet (never on an armchair). Cassatt breaks all these conventions<\/strong> at once. <\/p>\n\n

According to British art historian Griselda Pollock<\/strong>, this is what makes the painting \u201cone of the most radical depictions of childhood ever painted.\u201d<\/em> Cassatt does not depict the idealized childhood<\/strong> of bourgeois portraits\u2014well-behaved, presentable, and clean. She depicts real<\/strong> childhood: boring, restless, tired, and untidy. This is something new.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

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Degas painted the background<\/h3>\n\n

One of the most valuable pieces of information about Little Girl in a Blue Armchair<\/em><\/strong> was scientifically revealed<\/strong> in the 2010s and 2020s<\/strong> by the National Gallery of Art<\/strong> in Washington: Edgar Degas personally painted part of the canvas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

This direct collaboration<\/strong> between Cassatt and Degas\u2014long suggested by biographers but never scientifically confirmed<\/strong>\u2014was established through an infrared photographic<\/strong> analysis of the painting conducted by the museum\u2019s curators. Beneath the visible layer of paint<\/strong>, the imagery reveals two distinct painters\u2019 hands<\/strong>: Cassatt\u2019s on the child\u2019s figure, and Degas\u2019s on the background<\/strong> \u2014 the large, light-filled window<\/strong>, the back wall<\/strong>, and the arrangement of the armchairs in perspective<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Cassatt herself confirmed this collaboration<\/strong> in a letter to Ambroise Vollard<\/strong> written in 1903<\/strong>, twenty-five years after the painting was created. Vollard, a prominent Parisian<\/strong> art<\/strong> dealer<\/strong>, was then preparing a Cassatt retrospective<\/strong> and had asked the painter for biographical details<\/strong>. She wrote to him: <\/p>\n\n

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\u201cIt was a portrait of a friend of Mr. Degas. I had painted the child in the armchair, and he thought it was good; he gave me advice on the background and even worked on it himself. I sent it to the American section of the great exhibition [of 1878], and they rejected it\u2026 I was furious, especially since he had worked on it. At the time, it seemed like something new, and the jury consisted of three people, one of whom was a pharmacist!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\u2014 Mary Cassatt, letter to Ambroise Vollard, 1903<\/em><\/p>\n\n

This quote is doubly valuable<\/strong>. It confirms the model\u2019s identity<\/strong>: the daughter of friends of Degas<\/strong>, and not\u2014contrary to what some misinformed sources claim\u2014 Degas\u2019s daughter<\/strong> (Degas never had children, never married, and never had any recognized descendants). <\/p>\n\n

It also reveals Cassatt\u2019s fury<\/strong> in the face of rejection, and the unique nature<\/strong> of their collaboration: Degas did not merely advise<\/strong> Cassatt\u2014he physically painted<\/strong> part of the painting. It is, in fact, a four-handed work<\/strong> \u2014one of the rarest<\/strong> in the entire history of Impressionist painting. <\/p>\n\n

This collaboration in no way<\/strong> detracts from Cassatt\u2019s artistic authorship<\/strong> of the painting. The concept<\/strong>, the overall composition<\/strong>, the choice of subject<\/strong>, and the treatment of the central figure<\/strong> \u2014all of this comes from Cassatt. Degas provided technical assistance<\/strong> with perspective and lighting<\/strong> \u2014areas in which he himself was an absolute master<\/strong>. The painting remains predominantly<\/strong> Cassatt\u2019s work, with \u201cassistance\u201d<\/strong> from Degas. <\/p>\n\n

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The Dog \u2014 A Gift from Degas<\/h3>\n\n

The little dog<\/strong> curled up in the armchair next to the child is not just a minor detail. It is a Brussels Griffon<\/strong> \u2014a relatively new Belgian breed (developed in Brussels in the mid-19th century) that was still little known in France in 1878. <\/p>\n\n

According to several biographical sources (notably the definitive biography by Nancy Mowll Mathews<\/strong>, *Mary Cassatt: A Life*<\/em>, Yale University Press, 1994), this dog is likely Mary Cassatt\u2019s own dog<\/strong> \u2014a gift from Edgar Degas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Degas himself had received this dog<\/strong> from another painter in the Impressionist circle, Ludovic-Napol\u00e9on Lepic<\/strong> (1839\u20131889), an engraver and amateur breeder of Brussels Griffons<\/strong>. Lepic was a friend of Degas\u2019s and a member of the Impressionist group\u2014in particular, he had introduced Degas to several new engraving techniques in the 1870s. <\/p>\n\n

The gift of the puppy<\/strong> to Cassatt in 1877 or early 1878 underscores the depth of the friendship<\/strong> between Cassatt and Degas\u2014it was not merely a professional relationship<\/strong> between painters, but a genuine friendship<\/strong> marked by intimate gestures and personal acts of kindness.<\/p>\n\n

Cassatt would grow to love<\/strong> this dog and the breed in general<\/strong>. She kept Brussels Griffons throughout her life<\/strong>, until her death in 1926. Several archival photographs<\/strong> show her in the 1900s and 1920s at the Ch\u00e2teau de Beaufresne<\/strong>, surrounded by her shaggy little dogs\u2014descendants of that first line of dogs given to her by Degas. <\/p>\n\n

The depiction of the dog in the painting<\/strong> is therefore, in fact, more personal<\/strong> than it appears. It is Cassatt\u2019s dog<\/strong>, painted in her home<\/strong>, in the presence of the child of a friend of Degas\u2019s<\/strong> \u2014the scene itself<\/strong> is a constellation of intertwined friendships<\/strong> between Cassatt, Degas, Lepic, and their respective family circles. <\/p>\n\n

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The Rejection of the 1878 World’s Fair<\/h3>\n\n

Spring 1878<\/strong>: Mary Cassatt submits Portrait of a Little Girl<\/em><\/strong> (as it was then titled) to the jury of the American section<\/strong> atthe 1878 Paris World\u2019s Fair<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

The 1878 World\u2019s Fair\u2014the third<\/strong> held in Paris (after 1855 and 1867)\u2014took place from May 1 to October 31, 1878<\/strong>, at the Champ-de-Mars<\/strong> and the Trocad\u00e9ro<\/strong>. It welcomed 16 million visitors<\/strong> over the course of six months. Each national pavilion<\/strong> featured an art section<\/strong> curated by a national jury<\/strong> that selected works representative of their country. <\/p>\n\n

The jury for the American section<\/strong> consisted of three people<\/strong>. Cassatt noted their identities with bitterness<\/strong> in her 1903 letter to Vollard: one of them was a pharmacist<\/strong>. None of the three jurors<\/strong> was a professional painter or a recognized art critic. None possessed the institutional authority<\/strong> that Cassatt deemed necessary to evaluate modern painting. <\/p>\n\n

The rejection is final<\/strong>. The U.S. jury refuses Portrait of a Little Girl<\/em><\/strong> likely because the composition is too modern, too unconventional,<\/strong> and too far removed from the academic standards<\/strong> the American public expected. <\/p>\n\n

Cassatt is furious<\/strong>. Her fury is documented in several family letters from the summer of 1878 (correspondence with her mother, Katherine Cassatt<\/strong>, and her brother, Alexander<\/strong>). She makes a twofold decision<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n

1.<\/strong> She subsequently turned down<\/strong> two American awards<\/strong> that were bestowed upon her\u2014a gesture of protest against the American art establishment that had rejected her.<\/p>\n\n

2.<\/strong> She kept the painting<\/strong> in reserve forthe 1879 Impressionist exhibition<\/strong> \u2014which she had now clearly decided to turn into a personal triumph<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

In retrospect<\/strong>, this rejection was a major turning point in her life<\/strong>. It marked<\/strong> Cassatt\u2019s definitive break<\/strong> with the traditional American and French art establishments. It pushed<\/strong> her irrevocably<\/strong> into the Impressionist camp, where she would flourish for the next forty years. <\/p>\n\n

As several art historians have pointed out, had she not been rejected in 1878<\/strong>, Cassatt might have continued to waver<\/strong> between the Salon, the World\u2019s Fair, and the Impressionists. With that rejection<\/strong>, she made her final choice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

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April 1879 \u2014 The Impressionist Comeback<\/h3>\n\n

The 4th Impressionist Exhibition<\/strong>, April 10\u2013May 11, 1879<\/strong>, at 28 Avenue de l’Op\u00e9ra<\/strong> in Paris’s 9th arrondissement<\/strong>. This marked Mary Cassatt’s first official participation<\/strong> in the Impressionist group. She exhibited eleven works<\/strong> \u2014a considerable number for a first exhibition. <\/p>\n\n

Among these eleven works: Little Girl in a Blue Armchair<\/em><\/strong>, presented under the title Portrait of a Little Girl<\/em><\/strong>. It isthe most ambitious work<\/strong> in the exhibition, both in terms of its size (89.5 \u00d7 129.8 cm) and its formal intensity<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Unlike the three previous<\/strong> exhibitions (1874, 1876, 1877), which had been relative commercial and critical failures<\/strong>, the 1879 exhibition was a resounding success<\/strong>. 16,000 visitors<\/strong> attended the exhibition in one month\u2014a considerable<\/strong> number for the time. The success was driven in particular by the works of Degas, Pissarro,<\/strong> and Caillebotte<\/strong>, as well as by newcomers<\/strong> Mary Cassatt<\/strong> and Paul Gauguin<\/strong> (who was also making his debut with this group). <\/p>\n\n

The critical reception<\/strong> of *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em> has been largely positive<\/strong>. Several critics praise the modernity of the composition<\/strong>, the naturalness of the child subject<\/strong>, and the technical mastery<\/strong>. Critic Edmond Duranty<\/strong>, writing in the Chronique des arts<\/em> ,<\/em> hails Cassatt as \u201ca new talent, and we welcome her with pleasure.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

Some critics, who were more conservative, were surprised<\/strong> by the child\u2019s slumped posture<\/strong> and the dog\u2019s presence on the armchair<\/strong>. Butthe overall reception<\/strong> was very favorable\u2014far more so than what Cassatt had experienced at the Salon in previous years. <\/p>\n\n

Financially<\/strong>, the success was more mixed. *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em> was not sold<\/strong> at the end of the exhibition. The painting returned to Cassatt\u2019s studio. It would not be purchased until later<\/strong>, in the 1880s or 1890s, by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

But symbolically<\/strong>, it was a complete<\/strong> victory. The painting that the American pharmacist had rejected<\/strong> a year earlier was now being hailed by modern Parisian critics<\/strong>. It was, quite literally<\/strong>, Cassatt\u2019s revenge<\/strong> on the American art establishment. <\/p>\n\n

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Vollard, Mellon, Washington \u2014 A Material History<\/h3>\n\n

The provenance of *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em> after 1879 took the painting through several prestigious private collections<\/strong> before it entered American public collections.<\/p>\n\n

1879\u2013circa 1890<\/strong>: The painting remained inMary Cassatt\u2019s studio<\/strong> in Paris. No buyer came forward after the 4th Impressionist exhibition. Cassatt kept<\/strong> the work, which she likely considered one of her most important<\/strong> from that period. <\/p>\n\n

Around 1890\u20131900<\/strong>: The painting was purchased by Ambroise Vollard<\/strong> (1866\u20131939), a prominent Parisian art dealer who had been based at 6 rue Laffitte<\/strong> since 1893. Vollard was then the most influential dealer<\/strong> in the Parisian avant-garde\u2014he championed C\u00e9zanne, Picasso, Gauguin, Van Gogh<\/strong>, and several other artists who would go on to become major figures. He acquired several works<\/strong> by Cassatt, including *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair<\/em>*. <\/p>\n\n

1908<\/strong>: Vollard sold<\/strong> the painting to a private collector<\/strong>. The exact provenance of this first sale is not fully documented\u2014the Vollard archives, which were partially destroyed, do not allow for complete traceability<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

1930s\u20131960s<\/strong>: The painting passed through several private American collections<\/strong> as part of estates and auctions.<\/p>\n\n

1983<\/strong>: The painting was donated to the National Gallery of Art<\/strong> in Washington by Paul Mellon and Rachel \u201cBunny\u201d Mellon<\/strong>, one of the greatest American patron couples<\/strong> of the 20th century. Paul Mellon (1907\u20131999), heir to the Mellon fortune (aluminum and banking), had built up a prodigious collection<\/strong> of American and European art with his wife, which he gradually donated<\/strong> to the NGA. <\/p>\n\n

The 1983 Mellon gift included *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em> as its centerpiece<\/strong>. Upon its entry into the American national collection, the painting became one of the flagship works<\/strong> in the museum\u2019s Impressionist section. <\/p>\n\n

1983\u2013present<\/strong>: *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em> is on permanent<\/strong> display at the NGA in Washington, Gallery M-90<\/strong> (West Building, main level). It has become the iconic image<\/strong> of Cassatt in Washington\u2014widely reproduced in catalogs, textbooks, and traveling exhibitions. <\/p>\n\n

Historical significance<\/strong>: The painting rejected<\/strong> by the American jury at the 1878 World\u2019s Fair is now part<\/strong> of the United States\u2019 premier national art collection<\/strong>, donated bythe<\/strong> Mellonfamily, a leading American patron<\/strong> of<\/strong> thearts<\/strong>. Forty-five years after it was rejected<\/strong> by the anonymous pharmacist, America has finally publicly<\/strong> recognized the exceptional value<\/strong> of this work.<\/p>\n\n

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Posterity \u2014 Modern Childhood in Painting<\/h3>\n\n

With *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em><\/strong>, Mary Cassatt pioneered modern painting of childhood<\/strong> in the strictest sense of the term.<\/p>\n\n

Before Cassatt, Western painting depicted childhood according to three main conventions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n

1. The Infant Jesus<\/strong> \u2014 Madonnas and Child, Nativity Scenes, Religious Scenes (from the Renaissance to 19th-century academic paintings)<\/p>\n\n

2. The Aristocratic Child<\/strong> \u2014 Ceremonial Portraits of Royal and Noble Children<\/strong> (Vel\u00e1zquez, Van Dyck, Lawrence)<\/p>\n\n

3. The idealized child<\/strong> \u2014 a sentimental style of 19th-century painting (Greuze, followed by the academic painters of the Second Empire) that depicts childhood as pure and touching innocence<\/strong>, evoking a sense of moral emotion<\/strong> in the adult viewer<\/p>\n\n

Cassatt breaks with all three conventions at once<\/strong>. Her little girl is neither divine, nor regal, nor idealized. She is real<\/strong>: bored<\/strong>, slumped over<\/strong>, poorly dressed<\/strong> (the tartan sash contrasts with the white dress), tired<\/strong>, and expressive<\/strong> even in her weariness. <\/p>\n\n

This innovation had, in fact<\/strong>,a<\/strong> considerableinfluence<\/strong> on painting at the turn of the 20th century. Several lines of influence have been documented: <\/p>\n\n

Lineage 1 \u2014 The Nabis<\/strong>: \u00c9douard Vuillard<\/strong> in his paintings of children<\/em> from the 1890s onward; Pierre Bonnard<\/strong> in his domestic scenes featuring children. Both painters were familiar with and admired Cassatt\u2019s work. <\/p>\n\n

Lineage 2 \u2014 American painting at the turn of the century<\/strong>: John Singer Sargent<\/strong> (who painted several portraits of children in the Cassatt style), William Merritt Chase<\/strong>, Cecilia Beaux<\/strong> \u2014all influenced by the modern perspective on childhood<\/strong> that Cassatt had introduced.<\/p>\n\n

Lineage 3 \u2014 Modern Family Photography<\/strong> More indirectly, Cassatt\u2019s portrayal<\/strong> of childhood\u2014 unposed, real, captured in the moment<\/strong> \u2014foreshadows what 20th-century amateur photography<\/strong> (Kodak, beginning in the 1900s) would systematically do: capture the imperfect moments<\/strong> of childhood\u2014its boredom<\/strong>, its weariness<\/strong>, its little whims<\/strong>. Pictorially speaking, Cassatt is a contemporary of this revolution in perspective<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

As art historian Griselda Pollock<\/strong> has written, *Little Girl in a Blue Armchair*<\/em> is \u201cone of the most radical images of childhood ever painted.\u201d<\/em> The term \u201cradical\u201d<\/strong> is apt\u2014in the etymological sense, meaning to go to the root of things<\/strong>. Cassatt goes to the very rootof real childhood<\/strong>, without any conventional filters<\/strong>, and transforms<\/strong> it into a painting<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

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How to View the Work Today<\/h3>\n\n

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair<\/em><\/strong> is housed at the National Gallery of Art<\/strong><\/a> in Washington, D.C. Practical information:<\/p>\n\n