Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly

Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly (1880, Metropolitan Museum of Art) depicts Cassatt's sister, Lydia, at leisure in the garden of the family's summer residence at Marly-le-Roi near Paris. Lydia was one of Cassatt's most important models in the late 1870s and early 1880s, appearing in many of her finest works before her death in 1882 from Bright's disease. The garden setting and the absorbing activity of crocheting position Lydia in the realm of productive female leisure — active, competent, and entirely unselfconscious of observation.

The dappled garden light — filtered through the foliage above — creates complex tonal variations across Lydia's figure and the surrounding vegetation. Cassatt captures the specific quality of outdoor light with varied strokes that break the surface into shimmer and shadow. The warm pinks and greens of the summer garden create a harmonious, light-saturated atmosphere.