Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania to a family whose wealth let them support her wish to become an artist, itself an unusual attitude for the period^[1]. Part of the family's time in France during her childhood came from seeking treatment for her brother's illness, and during those years she learned both French and German and grew familiar with the museums and galleries of Paris at a young age^[2]. She trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before returning to Paris at twenty-one with a friend, Emily Sartain, to study privately with Jean-Leon Gerome, since the Ecole des Beaux-Arts did not accept women^[2][1]. She and Sartain were granted copyist cards for the Louvre, where she discovered the work of Manet and Courbet firsthand^[2].

Cassatt exhibited at the Salon for three consecutive years, 1872 to 1874, but grew frustrated with the jury's inconsistency; one of her paintings was rejected in 1875 and then accepted the following year only after she darkened its background^[2]. Degas had noticed her work through a mutual friend and, once acquainted, suggested she abandon the Salon altogether and show instead with the circle he referred to as the Independents rather than the Impressionists^[2]. She did not hesitate, later recalling that she was delighted to accept, since at last she could work completely independently, without worrying about a jury's verdict^[2]. She went on to participate in four of the group's exhibitions between 1879 and 1886, unusually welcomed into a circle that could otherwise be prickly about new members, in contrast with the friction that met other newcomers such as Gauguin^[2].

Cassatt's work through this period is marked by an unusual cropped viewpoint, firm outlines and unconventional composition, developed partly in response to Degas's example and partly to Japanese prints that she admired^[1]. That combination of influences is visible directly in this painting's off-centre framing of the child, a departure from the more conventionally centred, posed compositions typical of earlier child portraiture^[1]. Janson's survey of the period places Cassatt's approach to Impressionism as reflecting a woman's perspective specifically, describing her bright palette, strong surface-hugging brushwork and use of asymmetry and cropping as compositional devices distinct from her male contemporaries^[3].