Elsie Cassatt Holding a Big Dog 1880

Mary Cassatt captured this quiet moment of a child and her dog in pastel on paper, sometime in the late 19th century. As one of the few prominent female artists within the Impressionist movement, Cassatt often focused on domestic scenes. Here, the image's meaning is subtly created through the soft rendering of the girl and her dog, giving both of them a gentle, somewhat idealized appearance. Cassatt worked in France during a time of significant social change, when traditional roles for women were being questioned. While she never overtly engaged in politics, her decision to focus on the lives of women and children within the domestic sphere can be seen as a commentary on the social structures of her time. She exhibited with the Impressionists against the Salon system. To truly understand the nuances of Cassatt's work, art historians might delve into the exhibition history of the Impressionists and the critical reception of women artists in the late 19th century. The meaning of art, as we see here, is contingent on its social and institutional context.