Marcus Chen
There are several paintings of girls with their friends, and one of the most notable is Little Girl in a Blue Armchair by Mary Cassatt, painted in 1878. The painting depicts a pale-skinned little girl with a small brown dog, Baptiste, curled up in a matching celestial-blue armchair. The painting was exhibited at the Spring 1879 Impressionist exhibition and is currently part of the National Gallery of Art's collection in Washington, D.C. Another painting that fits the description is Little Girl in White (Queenie Burnett) by George Bellows, created in 1907. This painting portrays the artist's laundry delivery girl and was exhibited at the National Arts Club in New York in 1908.
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What You'll Learn
Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 1878, Mary Cassatt
"Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" is an oil painting by American painter, printmaker, pastelist, and connoisseur Mary Cassatt, created in 1878. It measures 89.5 x 129.8 cm and is currently housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts a little girl sprawled on a blue armchair in a room with three other matching chairs. The dominance of the oversized furniture with its vibrant blue upholstery captures a sense of restlessness and languorousness, reflected in the girl's unposed and slightly provocative posture. She is dressed fashionably, with a tartan shawl, matching socks, and a bow in her carefully arranged hair. Her spotless shoes have sparkling buckles.
The painting also includes a small brown dog, identified as a Brussels Griffon, sleeping on the chair opposite the girl. Cassatt was introduced to this breed by Degas in 1873, who gifted her a puppy procured from fellow Impressionist Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic, a breeder. The dog, named Baptiste, appeared in several of Cassatt's paintings and remained with her for the rest of her life.
The girl in the painting was the daughter of a friend of Degas, and the work is often cited as an example of his influence on Cassatt. Degas made changes to the painting, particularly in the background, and recent conservation work and infrared photography have confirmed his reworks on the piece. The painting was likely exhibited at the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition of 1879 as "Portrait de petite fille." Cassatt had been invited to join the Impressionists by Degas in 1877 after facing rejection from the official French art establishment.
"Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" is considered one of Mary Cassatt's most important works. Visual theorist Griselda Pollock describes it as "one of the most radical images of childhood" of its time. Germaine Greer calls it Cassatt's "first real stunner," capturing the "awfulness of being at once controlled by adults and ignored by them."
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Little Girl in White, 1907, George Bellows
George Bellows' "Little Girl in White" is a masterpiece in oil on canvas, completed in 1907. The full title of the painting is "Little Girl in White (Queenie Burnett)", named after its subject, the artist's laundry delivery girl. Bellows' teacher, Robert Henri, advised him to select subjects that reflected the realism of modern urban life. Bellows took this advice and portrayed the recreational activities of New York City's lower-class children in his paintings. This is evident in works such as "River Rats" (1906) and "Forty-two Kids" (1907).
"Little Girl in White" is one of two full-length portraits Bellows painted of individual children in 1907, the other being "Frankie the Organ Boy". Unlike his late 19th-century predecessors, Bellows did not portray idealized, well-scrubbed children. Instead, he depicted his subjects in a bluntly realistic manner, reflecting their underprivileged backgrounds. This is evident in "Little Girl in White", where Queenie Burnett's gaunt face, large eyes, unkempt hair, and ungainly figure suggest a life of hardship.
The painting is a significant work in Bellows' oeuvre as it was his first figural piece to be exhibited. It is also notable for its size, measuring 158 x 87 cm (62 3/16 x 34 1/4 inches). The original is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Reproductions of "Little Girl in White" are available in various forms, including poster prints, metal prints, and canvas prints. These reproductions allow art enthusiasts to display and appreciate Bellows' masterpiece in their own homes.
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Girl with a Pearl Earring, c. 1665, Johannes Vermeer
Girl with a Pearl Earring, c. 1665, is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer. The painting is a tronie, a Dutch 17th-century term for a "head" that was not meant to be a portrait. It depicts a European girl wearing exotic dress, an oriental turban, and what appears to be a very large pearl as an earring. The subject of the painting is unknown; it is possible that she was a real model, or that Vermeer created a more generalized and mysterious woman, perhaps a Sibyl or biblical figure.
The painting is Vermeer's most famous work. It is known for its masterful use of light, seen in the softness of the girl's face and the glimmers of light on her moist lips and pearl earring. The earring itself was created with just two strokes of white paint—one at the bottom to reflect the collar and a thick dab at the top. The dark background, today somewhat mottled, was originally a deep enamel-like green, created using a glaze of thin, transparent paint over a black background. However, the two organic pigments of the green glaze, indigo and weld, have faded.
The painting has been the subject of various literary and cinematic treatments. One of the earliest literary treatments was a sestina by Yann Lovelock, titled "Vermeer’s Head of a Girl". The painting also inspired a 1999 historical novel by Tracy Chevalier, which fictionalized the circumstances of the painting's creation. The novel was adapted into a 2003 film of the same name and a 2008 play. In 1985, the Peruvian painter Herman Braun-Vega appropriated the painting in his work Encuentro en la playa (after Vermeer). In 2009, the Ethiopian-American Awol Erizku recreated the painting as a print, centring on a young Black woman and replacing the pearl earring with bamboo earrings to comment on the lack of Black figures in museums and galleries.
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Little Girl in Blue, 1934, Amrita Sher-Gil
Amrita Sher-Gil, born Dalma-Amrita, was a Hungarian–Indian painter. She was born on 30 January 1913 in Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her father, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia, was an Indian Jat Sikh aristocrat and scholar in Sanskrit and Persian. Her mother, Marie Antoinette Gottesman, was a Hungarian-Jewish opera singer.
Sher-Gil began formal painting lessons at the age of eight and first gained recognition at the age of 19 for her 1932 oil painting, Young Girls. She travelled throughout her life to various countries, including Turkey, France, and India, deriving heavily from precolonial Indian art styles as well as contemporary culture. She trained as a painter in Paris, first at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and later at the École des Beaux-Arts (1930-1934). Sher-Gil drew inspiration from European painters such as Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and Amedeo Modigliani.
In 1934, Sher-Gil left Paris for India, where she painted The Little Girl in Blue. The painting depicts the artist's eight-year-old neighbour, Lalit 'Babit' Kaur, who was chosen for her high cheekbones and resemblance to Sher-Gil. Sher-Gil selected the painting for her inaugural show, where it was placed on public display for the first time. The painting was last seen in public 80 years ago and was offered for sale at Sotheby's in Mumbai in 2018.
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Em Thúy (Little Sister Thúy), 1943, Trần Văn Cẩn
Em Thúy (Little Sister Thúy) is an oil painting created by Trần Văn Cẩn, often referred to as Tran Van Can, in 1943. It is considered one of the artist's finest works and one of the typical portraits of 20th-century Vietnam. The painting was recognised as a 'National Treasure' by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng in 2013.
Little Sister Thúy is a portrait of the artist's 8-year-old niece, Nguyen Minh Thuy, born in 1935. She is depicted sitting on a rattan chair, slightly leaning, with her hands closed. Her pose suggests a hint of shyness. She has short hair, bright eyes, and an innocent face.
Tran Van Can is one of the leading representatives of Vietnamese painting in the early 20th century. He graduated as valedictorian from the École des Beaux Arts de l’Indochine in 1937. During World War II, he often lived with a relative's family on Hang Cot Street in Hanoi. Minh Thuy was his favourite niece, so he decided to paint her portrait when she was 8 years old.
The painting has an interesting history. When the French Army occupied Hanoi during the First Indochina War, Thuy's family had to evacuate and left the painting behind. Unfortunately, by the time they returned, the painting had been stolen. Determined to retrieve it, the family bought the painting from an art dealer who had found it in a barber's house. Eventually, Tran Van Can donated Little Sister Thuy to the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts, where it currently resides. In addition, Tran Van Can also painted another work featuring Thuy when she was 24 years old.
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Frequently asked questions
Little Girl in a Blue Armchair.
American painter, printmaker, pastelist, and connoisseur Mary Cassatt.
1878.
Oil.
A celestial-blue armchair.
