Artists love fat babies.

I'm not sure why, but artists throughout history have always had an affinity towards the voluptuous rolls on a fat baby. And it would seem that  Mary Cassatt was no exception. This little chubster is looking quite precarious on its mother's lap, but who's going to worry about that on such a lovely day in the Mediterranean?  Maybe the fat will help him float.

Though Cassatt was born in the US, she actually spent most of her life living in France, like any good artist of the times. This painting was born while she was vacationing in Southern France, an area she frequented quite often. Can you blame her? Looks like a good time to me. (No, seriously, I want someone to row me around in a boat while I wear a crazy hat. Get in touch.)

A true Cassatt painting would not be complete without a beautiful woman as the shining center of attention. Cassatt loved the ladies...and I mean that in a totally platonic way. Perhaps her infatuation with her fellow females was born out of a youthful rebellion against her father. When she began attending art school at the age of fifteen, her father objected for fear of little Mary being exposed to feminist ideals. Too little, too late. Cassatt championed women in her art and kicked ass as a female artist. Suck it, Dad.