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The Reader

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The Reader

Artist (1844 - 1926)
Date1877
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions32 x 25 1/2 in. (81.3 x 64.8 cm)
Framed: 41 1/2 x 35 x 2 3/4 in. (105.4 x 88.9 x 7 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LinePromised Gift to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Signedl.l. and l.r.: M S Cassatt / 1877
On View
Not on view
Collections
Label TextBorn to a wealthy Pittsburgh family, Mary Cassatt spent most of her life in France, where she became the only American to exhibit with the Impressionists. The young woman in The Reader does not engage the viewer; rather, she is absorbed in her book. Reading had both positive and negative connotations for nineteenth-century women. While reading signified the privileges of literacy and abundant leisure time enjoyed by Cassatt and her social class, some considered it a frivolous pursuit.

Mary Cassatt, quien nació en una familia acomodada de Pittsburg, pasó la mayor parte de su vida en Francia, donde fue la única estadounidense en exhibir junto a los Impresionistas. La joven en La Lectora no mira directamente al espectador, sino que está inmersa en su libro. La lectura tiene connotaciones tanto positivas como negativas para las mujeres del Siglo XIX. Mientras que la lectura era sinónimo de los privilegios de la alfabetización y el abundante tiempo de ocio que Cassatt y su clase social disfrutaban, algunos lo consideraban una actividad frívola.
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