A founding member of the group of artists known as the Ten American Painters, Joseph DeCamp was one of the leading figures of American Impressionism and the Boston art scene in the early decades of the twentieth century. The Seamstress, an example of DeCamp's mature style, masterfully balances description and mood, solid modeling and ethereal effect, immediacy and extended looking. DeCamp completed the painting only when specific weather and light conditions prevailed, explaining that he needed a "couple of grey days [to] turn the trick." The result is a painting that flickers with differing textures –impasto (thickly-applied paint) next to fine brushstrokes – and luminous shades of white and gray, from the ruffled curtains and the glimmer of the outside seen through the window to the simple blouse of the seamstress and mottled reflections on the table.