The Visitor (recto)
c. 1881
Mary Cassatt, the only American invited to exhibit with the French Impressionists, captures a fleeting moment of social arrival in this energetic sketch. A stylishly dressed woman stands poised with one hand resting on a chair back, while a shadowy, barely-there figure to the left suggests the person she is visiting. The rapid, scratchy lines give the scene a sense of immediacy, as if Cassatt was capturing the scene in real-time before the visitor could settle in. It’s a great example of her focus on the private lives and social rituals of women in the late 19th century.
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