Sketch for 'Francoise in a Round Backed Chair, Reading' or 'A Girl in Pink' 1908

Mary Cassatt made this sketch in oil on canvas—it's a fleeting impression of a girl in a pink dress. Look at the brushwork: so casual, so speedy! It’s like she's in a race against time to capture a momentary feeling. I imagine Cassatt squinting at her subject, trying to figure her out, thinking what to put in and what to leave out. The girl’s downward glance is so beautifully caught, isn't it? You can almost feel the weight of her thoughts. There’s something really juicy about the pink and brown strokes against the stark white ground. Cassatt’s been drinking from the same well as artists like Manet, who also knew how to make a painting pop with just a few strokes. They knew that a painting is not about precision. It's about capturing light and emotion, reducing things to their purest forms, and letting the viewer fill in the blanks.