Need help with painting interpretation?

Question:i know i ask a lot of these question, but bare with me please.

this is edgar degas and he painted Mary cassatt and she is another famous painter and she is in the Louvre.

i don't get why he painted her but didn't show us her face?
and why did he give them props like a book and un umbrella?
http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Mar...

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: i know i ask a lot of these question, but bare with me please.

this is edgar degas and he painted Mary cassatt and she is another famous painter and she is in the Louvre.

i don't get why he painted her but didn't show us her face?
and why did he give them props like a book and un umbrella?
http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Mar...

Impressionism is not about facial features. They were not traditional painters.
They were about splashes of color in fields of sunflowers, haystacks, railroads, water lillies, racetracks, ballet dancers, people enjoying themselves in the park etc.
They attempted to break away from classical art.
Mary Cassatt was an American painter who focused on children, & became an Impressionist herself.
Many of the artists enjoyed painting each other & often did the same scenes together. Study whatever you can on Impressionism & you will see for yourself what they were attempting to do.
Phyllis G.

i don't know anything about art, but interesting to me that the aspect i'd zero-in on first, her face, is obscured. so i find myself looking for other cues, other focii, aspects that would ordinarily seem secondary, expanding my perspective. and if the faces were shown would we even be discussing the umbrella?