Mary Cassatt's family had come to visit her at Marly-le-Roi in the summer of 1880 where the painter was living with her sister Lydia.

Lydia, who suffered from Bright's disease, had moved from Philadelphia to live with Cassatt after she had relocated to Paris.

The remainder of the family joined the sisters in the summer of 1880 and Cassatt's work at that time shifted to images depicting home life.

[1][2] Immediately following the American Civil War, paintings of women in elegant gardens became popular.

[4] Painted in an Impressionist style, the greenhouse and orderly rows of plants are behind Lydia,[1][5] who is shown as occupied and seemingly unaware of the garden at her back.