Mother and Child (Baby Getting Up from His Nap)

Mary Cassatt was a painter in the French Impressionism circle, a very close friend of Edgar Degas, and the only American in the group. In about 1890 she redirected her art toward women caring for children and children alone—themes that reflected her affection for her nieces and nephews and the prevailing cultural interest in child rearing. This painting focuses on the bond between mother and child. The artist translated the popular Impressionist subject of adult female bathers into genteel maternal terms: instead of washing herself, a beautifully dressed woman washes her child. The blond, blue-eyed toddler is said to have been a boy named Jules, one of Cassatt’s frequent models. 

P.S. Discover more intimate images of motherhood by the brilliant Mary Cassatt!

P.P.S. Mary Cassatt is one of the amazing women artists often omitted in academic art history. If you would like to learn more about women artists, please check our amazing postcards and notebooks.  :)