
Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926).
Oil on canvas.
Cassatt’s nieces and nephew Eddie (eleven), Elsie (five), and Katherine (called Sister, nine) crowd around their grandmother as she reads fairy tales from a bright red book. Mary’s mother was often called upon to be a conspirator in getting children to pose attentively for her daughter and perhaps often brought out the fairy tales for that purpose.
Quote and image credit from books0977