Mary Cassatt’s painting “The Fitting – Young Woman Trying On a Dress” is a remarkable example of her artistry in depicting women and children. The painting was created in 1890-91 and showcases Cassatt’s perceptive portrayal of the private sphere of women. In this artwork, she focused on the figure of a young woman trying on a dress, surrounded by other women.
Cassatt was an American artist active in the French avant-garde during the 19th century. Her sharpness of drawing and search for original layout made her stand out among other artists. She studied abroad, which reflects her strong character throughout her career. Although Cassatt didn’t identify herself as part of any particular movement, she drew influence from impressionism and Japanese prints to create unique works.
In “The Fitting – Young Woman Trying On A Dress,” Cassatt captured both the physical surroundings as well as the emotions expressed by each woman inside the fitting room. This painting showcased how females embraced body positivity through fashion choices in that time period. Overall, this brilliant artwork offers us an insightful glimpse into Mary Cassatt’s world and illustrates how atypical it seemed from mainstream art movements at that time while standing out to audiences unmistakably nowadays because of its beauty around interior figures’ interpretation through skillfully drawn elements like patterns, folds, details like fingers stretching pink fabric!
