Child In A Straw Hat C1886

Description

Mary Cassatt’s Child in a Straw Hat, painted in 1886, frames a young sitter beneath a broad brim decorated with pale flowers. A blue-gray pinafore lies over white sleeves, while the hands come together near the lower edge. The olive-gray background gives the figure a restrained setting, keeping attention on the relationship between the child’s face, the oversized hat and the closely gathered pose.

The painting belongs to Cassatt’s images of girls appearing to play dress-up, but the subject’s character remains more particular than that activity alone. The relationship between the large hat and the smaller face creates a tension of scale, drawing attention back toward the person wearing it. Painted marks organize those forms without dissolving the child’s presence into atmosphere. The portrait offers a direct encounter with a young individual, whose stillness gives the viewer time to notice the different rhythms of face, costume and surrounding space.