The Tea

"The Tea", also known as "Five O'Clock Tea", is an oil-on-canvas painting by American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Portraying the intimate scene of two women during tea time, this work features prominent Impressionism characteristics. The painting itself is a portrait of both social and spatial facets of women's lives during Cassatt's era. The interior scene might embody the societal limitations put on women, as suggested by art historian Griselda Pollock. Norma Broude, however, suggests that it might represent women's sociability and empowerment. Painted on canvas with oil paints, the ultimate intention behind Cassatt's work remains as varied as the interpretations suggesting its meaning.