“Young Mother Sewing” features Margot Lux, a child who often posed for artist Mary Cassatt, and Reine Lefebvre, a woman from a village near Cassatt’s 17th-century manor house. Cassatt (1844 – 1926) came from an affluent, cultured Pennsylvania family, engaging in simple, self-contained everyday activities like reading and sewing. Her background may have inspired this piece, which was possibly set in the conservatory of Cassatt's house. The only conventional aspect of this work is the central placement of the figures. Otherwise, it exhibits the Impressionist’s skill in capturing fleeting shadows, and the transient effects of glowing, reflected light.

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