tened, thin little arm pressing firmly on the woman's knee and
in the stout little legs, hard and round and simply modeled. There is
plenty of truth in the picture, but in spite of an almost effective
effort toward harmony of color, it lacks what the critics call "totality
of effect." The annotation of the various phenomena is too explicit, the
values are not finely related, and there is little suggestion of
atmosphere.

In the later picture this crudity is replaced by a beautiful fluent
handling and the mastery of tone. The subject is again a woman and
child, the latter just out of its bath, its flesh bright and glowing,
its limbs instinct with life and ready to spring with uncontrollable
vivacity. The modeling of the figures is as elusive as it is sure, and
in the warm, golden air by which they seem to be enveloped, the
well-understood forms lose all suggestion of the hardness and dryness
conspicuous in the early work. Another recent painting of a kindred
subject, _Le lever de bebe_, shows the same synthesis of detail, the
same warmth and richness of tone, the same free and learned use of line.
Obviously, Miss Cassatt has come into the full possession of her art and
is no longer constrained by the struggle, sharp and hard as it must have
been, with her exacting method--a method that has not at any time
permitted the sacrifice of truth to charm. Since art is both truth and
charm, record and poetry, there is a great satisfaction in watching the
flowering of a positive talent, after the inevitable stages of
literalism are passed, into the beauty of intelligent generalization. In
all the later work there is the important element of ease, a certain
graciousness of style, that enhances to a very great degree the beauty
of the serious, dignified canvases. And from the beginning these have
shown the admirable qualities of serenity and poise. There is no
superficiality or pettiness about these homely women with their deep
chests and calm faces, peacefully occupying themselves with their sound,
agreeable children. The air of health, of fresh and normal vigor, is
the characteristic of the chosen type, and lends a suggestion of the
Hellenic spirit to the modern physiognomies.

[Illustration: CHILD RESTING

_From an etching by Mary Cassatt_]

If, however, in her technique and in the feeling of quietness she
conveys, Miss Cassatt recalls the classic tradition, she is intensely
modern in her choice of natural, unhackneyed gestur