American Painting and Sculpture

MARY CASSATT
(American, 1844-1926)

L’Enfant (The Child), 1905
Oil on canvas
Gift of Mrs. Blakemore Wheeler 1964.22

The only American artist to be invited to exhibit with the French Impressionists, Mary Cassatt is best known today for her images of women and children. In 1905, she was asked to create a series of tondo (circular) murals on the theme of motherhood for the women’s lounge in the new Pennsylvania Statehouse in Harrisburg. Even though she had already painted two of these tondos, Cassatt ultimately turned down the commission, having heard of the rampant graft involved in the building’s construction and wanting no part of it. L’Enfant (also known as Le Bébé Debout or Standing Baby) is a study for a third mural that Cassatt never completed. Cassatt’s visible brush work and her use of color link her with the French Impressionists — her first allies when she moved to Paris.