Ellen with Bows in Her Hair, Looking Right 1899

Mary Cassatt made this pastel drawing, Ellen with Bows in Her Hair, Looking Right, in France in the late 19th century. Cassatt was an American artist who became part of the Impressionist circle in Paris. Cassatt is known for her intimate depictions of women, especially mothers and children. In this portrait, the young girl, Ellen, is adorned with bows. While seemingly domestic and personal, Cassatt's work needs to be understood in the context of the French Salon system, which often excluded women artists and dictated acceptable subject matter for female painters. Cassatt challenged these norms by focusing on the private lives of women. In doing so, she subtly critiqued the male-dominated art world. The role of the historian is to dig into sources of the time, from exhibition reviews to personal letters, to understand the stakes of this kind of work. Art always exists within a network of social and institutional forces.