Spring: Margot Standing in a Garden
(Fillette dans un jardin)

• Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)
• 1900
• Oil on canvas
• Bequest of Ruth Alms Barnard, 1981
• (1982.119.2)

The girl depicted here is Margot Lux, Mary Cassatt’s neighbor in the Paris suburbs, who modeled for more than fifty of her works. From the 1890s, Cassatt frequently painted children, capturing their innocence and freedom, which she greatly admired. In this painting, Margot stands with one shoulder exposed as her dress slips down, clutching her pinafore in her chubby hands. Her rosy cheeks, as if flushed from playing in the garden, add liveliness to the scene.