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Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly

Mary Cassatt American
1880
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 766
Cassatt and her family spent the summer of 1880 at Marly-le-Roi, about ten miles west of Paris. Ignoring the village’s historic landmarks in her art, Cassatt focused instead on the domestic environment. Here, she portrayed her elder sister, Lydia, fashionably dressed and insulated by a walled garden from any modern hurly-burly. Lydia is absorbed in the sort of old-fashioned handicraft that was increasingly prized by the well-to-do as factory manufacture by working-class women escalated. Although Cassatt was generally uninterested in plein-air painting, she captured the effects of dazzling sunlight beautifully in this work, especially in Lydia’s large white hat.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly
  • Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
  • Date: 1880
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 25 13/16 x 36 7/16 in. (65.6 x 92.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Gardner Cassatt, 1965
  • Object Number: 65.184
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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The Map, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of three
The Map
Mary Cassatt
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Mother Berthe Holding Her Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of two
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1889
The Barefooted Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fifth state of five
The Barefooted Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1896–97
The Stocking, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; fifth state of six
The Stocking
Mary Cassatt
1890
The Mirror, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; sixth state of six
The Mirror
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1891

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