In 1894, Cassatt purchased and renovated the Château de Beaufresne at Mesnil-Theribus, about fifty miles northwest of Paris. It became her country retreat for the rest of her life. Her increased interest in landscape settings in her pastels may reflect an appreciation of the outdoors cultivated at the château.

Most of Cassatt's pastels, like this one, have retained their original brilliance, while her papers, which were colored with unstable dyes, have faded.

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