Little Girl in a Blue Armchair / Mary Cassatt / Oil on canvas / 1878 / Washington National Gallery
The Little Girl with the Blue Armchair, a fresh expression of Mary Cassatt's relationship with the Impressionist style. With a limited palette of colors and vibrant brushstrokes, she has created a dynamic interplay of forms, capturing the moment between the little girl's play and rest.
Light enters the picture through French patterned doors in the background, bringing to life the texture and pattern of the inanimate objects in the room. The axis of the image is slanted and draws attention to the random arrangement of four large blue chairs. The gray floor of the room in between is painted with an energetic brush that gives it a special life. . In contrast, the little girl sitting tiredly on the couch and the little dog are in absolute peace.
Cassatt restored this painting with the help of her friend Edgar Degas and exhibited it along with 10 other paintings in her first exhibition with the Impressionists in 1879.
