Little Girl in a Blue Armchair

Childhood unsweetened: an armchair, a dog, a gaze. A little girl sprawled in a huge blue armchair, 1878 (89.5 × 129.8 cm, NGA Washington, Mellon 1983.1.18). Cassatt paints real childhood, slumped and dreamy, far from formal portraiture.

This work appears in the Musée d'Orsay exhibition 'Mary Cassatt. Being Independent' (6 October 2026 – 31 January 2027).