Oversized blue armchairs Symbolism

Domestic comfort that becomes an engulfing, modern environment; scale that dwarfs the child signals the pull of sensation over social decorum.

Common Themes

Mimesis vs. abstraction (truth vs. artifice)Everyday life as art (the ordinary)Medium reflexivity (art about art)Fashion & adornmentClass & inequalityChildhood & innocence

Artworks Featuring This Symbol

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair by Mary Cassatt

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair

Mary Cassatt (1878)

Mary Cassatt’s Little Girl in a Blue Armchair renders a child slumped diagonally across an oversized seat, surrounded by a flotilla of blue chairs and cool window light. With brisk, broken strokes and a skewed recession, Cassatt asserts a modern, unsentimental view of childhood—bored, autonomous, and <strong>out of step with adult decorum</strong> <sup>[1]</sup><sup>[4]</sup>. Subtle collaboration with <strong>Degas</strong> in the background design sharpens the picture’s daring spatial thrust <sup>[2]</sup>.