Contemplation 1891

Mary Cassatt made this image, Contemplation, using pastels, a medium that sits halfway between painting and drawing. Pastels are essentially pure pigment, bound with just enough gum or resin to hold them together. This means they deliver color with great intensity, and a velvety matte surface. Cassatt coaxes a range of effects here, from the soft bloom of the sitter's skin to the more insistent hues of the fan and patterned chair. She uses hatching, cross-hatching, and stumping - rubbing the pastel to create a hazy effect - all techniques that call attention to the artwork's making. Pastel was a favorite medium of the Impressionists, who favored immediacy and portability. But it was also considered suitable for women artists in particular, as it did not require the same physical commitment as oil painting. Consider how Cassatt turns this limitation into an advantage, using pastel to create an intimate, domestic scene, full of subtle observation. The work asks us to reconsider what "great art" can be.