The impressionist painting "Young Woman in Black (Portrait of Mrs. Gardner Cassatt)" (1883), by Mary Cassatt, features a thoughtful woman looking into the distance, filling the frame. Cassatt maintained an interest in capturing life as it was, much like a photographer would. She often depicts scenes similar to this one; with female subjects that appear unposed. Mary Cassatt is not romanticizing women or presenting a fantasized version of a woman, such as Venus or Madonna. Particularly in this painting, with its drastic dark colors and unapologetic approach, Cassatt is presenting an austere, noble, and mature woman. This goes as far as implying that Cassatt "understands the woman of the world; because she is one herself" (Caldwell, 4). In this work, Cassatt has removed any objectification associated with the female, and instead presents a beautifully rendered portrait of a complex woman.
In order to fully understand her work, it is important to first understand Mary Cassatt. .
Uninterested in conforming to the rigid societal gender roles in place, she took advantage of her upper middle class status. She was largely considered to be "emancipated and successful" for a woman artist, especially around the time that Mrs Gardner Cassatt in Black was painted (at the end of the 19th Century )" (Broude, 2). Although unmarried and without children, she was quite fascinated with representing the mother figure in her paintings. Cassatt was at one time criticized for being a "childless" painter attempting to understand and bring forth maternal themes in her work, without having the experience (Roudebush, 2). When her exclusivity of women figures was questioned, Cassatt stated, "the charm of womanhood, if I have not conveyed some sense of that charm, in one word, if I have not been absolutely feminine, then I have failed." Cassatt wasn't trying to be something she wasn't, instead she was acting as a window to the world of a woman, and at the time, being a woman was virtually synonymous with motherly duties.