Sometimes Mary Cassatt's paintings of mothers and children are secularized and updated versions of the old Madonna and Child theme. She takes on the old Renaissance painters on their own turf and acquits herself magnificently. Other times, her paintings are more modern candid glimpses into the intimacies of private family life. Sometimes, her paintings are more complex combinations of a variety of influences from the Italian High Renaissance to photography to Japanese prints.
Always her paintings are affectionate without resort to sentimentality. It is a strange irony that this most poetic painter of motherhood was herself childless.
As time goes on, I have a growing respect and affection for the work of Mary Cassatt.
Baby's First Caress, 1890
The Bath, 1891
Sleepy Baby, 1910
Breakfast in Bed, 1897
Mother and Child
The Family, 1887
Mother and Child, 1890
Young Mother Sewing, 1902
5 comments:
I have always loved Mary Cassatt's work!
Her subject matter may have been socially-dictated (the way female reporters were delegated to the "Women's Section" for so many years), yet her subjects are refreshingly unsentimental. Her mothers LOVE their children, w/o giving the impression they 100% LIKE them. ;-/
Mary Cassatt was once savaged by feminist critics for her subject matter, especially for her paintings of mothers and children. That she was unmarried and childless only intensified the fury of her critics in the 1970s and 80s.
That seems to have abated now, replaced by a new appreciation of her considerable abilities as a painter, and for her successful efforts to bring Impressionism and modern painting to the attention of the American public.
I've been meaning to thank you for the lovely post on Mary Cassatt. I've never quite understood the feminist critics, for she was a fine artist. They should have been proud.
Actually, in a good many of the pictures, the woman appears to have a rather detached expression on her face, which saves the paintings over-sentimentality. It's as though she's thinking about something else, something that has nothing to do with the child, another part of her life.
"Actually, in a good many of the pictures, the woman appears to have a rather detached expression on her face, which saves the paintings over-sentimentality."
Very good point.
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