Art historians have sought for a century to understand the motivation that drove Mary Cassatt against critical opinion and away from her early subject matter toward her series of Mothers and their Children that occupied her for what is now considered to be the prime of her artistic career. The series somewhat resembles the familiar images of Madonna of Child in visual organization, yet the level of intimacy shared by her subjects, while comparable in its level of intensity is set apart by the total absorption of her subjects in their own shared moment, completely independent and entirely unaware of the viewer’s presence. This was a controversial and highly progressive step at a time when the majority of art was painted by men, assumed a male viewership, and treated female subjects primarily as erotic objects of the male gaze. Completed in 1880, Mother about to Wash her Sleepy Child is one of the early paintings in the series, and is typical in its structure as well as its highly intimate subject matter.
Griselda Pollock and Nancy Mowll Mathews, both notable modern art historians, write about the series of paintings; Pollock in an essay entitled, “Mary Cassatt: The Touch and the Gaze, or Impressionism for Thinking People”, and Mathews as part of a much longer biographical work, Mary Cassatt: A Life. Both authors are quick to agree on the importance the mother and child series holds as a theme within Mary Cassatt’s larger body of work as well as the innovation represented by its depictions of women entirely unconcerned with the intruding gaze of the viewer. While they place equal importance on the significance of the Mother and Child series, they approach it from two dramatically different directions.
Mathew’s approach, which f...
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...her paintings could very well be due to the inherent nature of the interaction between child and care-taker. The point emphasized by both authors is also the most important in its relation to the impact Cassatt’s portraits had on the visual art that followed. Mary Cassatt’s paintings were groundbreaking in their utter refusal to engage the erotic whims of male viewers, setting a new precedent for women both in and out of paintings.
Works Cited
Francis Frascina, et al. "Mary Cassatt." Modernity and Modernism: French Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1993.
Griselda Pollock. "Mary Cassatt: The Touch and the Gaze, Or Impressionism for Thinking People." Women Impressionists. Ed. Ingrid Pfeiffer and Max Hollen. Frankfurt: Schirn Kunsthalle, 2008.
Nancy Mowll Mathews. Mary Cassatt: A Life. New York: Villard Books, 1994.
When that room is entered all voices are hushed, and all merriment silenced. The place is as holy as a church. In the centre of the canvas is the Virgin Mother with a young, almost girlish face or surpassing loveliness. In her eyes affection and wonder are blended, and the features and the figure are the most spiritual and beautiful in the world's art.
The painting depicts a mother and her four children, who are all leaning on her as she looks down solemnly, her tired, despondent expression suggests she felt trapped in her roles as being a mother and a wife. The woman and her children are clearly the focal point of the artwork as the bright colours used to paint them stand out impeccably against the dull, lifeless colours of the background. This painting appears to be centred around the ideology that women are home-keepers, whose main role is to satisfy and assist her husband while simultaneously minding the children and keeping the home tidy and ready for his return. The social consequences of this artwork could have been that the woman could have been berated for not taking pleasure out of being a mother and raising her children, as a woman should. She could have been made redundant as her husband may have felt as though she is no longer useful if she couldn’t adequately adhere to her roles as a mother and a
Prior to the 20th century, female artists were the minority members of the art world (Montfort). They lacked formal training and therefore were not taken seriously. If they did paint, it was generally assumed they had a relative who was a relatively well known male painter. Women usually worked with still lifes and miniatures which were the “lowest” in the hierarchy of genres, bible scenes, history, and mythological paintings being at the top (Montfort). To be able to paint the more respected genres, one had to have experience studying anatomy and drawing the male nude, both activities considered t...
The painting can be found at the Washington’s National Art Gallery. Further, this artwork is an important piece of art created during her mature career. Cassatt depicts the young girl alone within a domestic exterior. The informal posture, as well as the evident brushwork, are attributed to impressionism while the asymmetrical structure, the hasty scene cropping, and the shallow space indicate the Japanese art inspirations. Additionally, the young girl seated in an unselfconscious and sprawling manner is a reminder to the viewer of her young age
Throughout history art has played a major role in society. It started out with paintings and went to photography and eventually to films. Artistic interpretation depended on whom the artist was and what he or she wanted to present to the audience. When it came to portraiture, whether it was paintings or photography, the idea of mimesis was very important. However important this may have been, the portraits were mostly products of the media and fashions during that time period. Whatever was popular during the time was used such as columns or curtains in the background. The face was the main focus in the painting and there was little focus on the body. Later on during photography the body was focused on more. Even though photography was used much later after paintings were used, it allowed the artist even more artistic interpretation because of the ability to play a different role and not having to be ones self. The artists that will be focused on are Frida Kahlo and Cindy Sherman. They lived during different periods and their artistic intentions varied because of that. They also had similarities in that they thought outside of the conventional roles. These women were both self-portraiture artists and although they were considered that their interpretations did not always make their portraits self-portraits. Traditionally the artist was an outsider, but when it came to self-portraiture they became the subject and the audience became the outsider. The similarities and differences of Frida Kahlo and Cindy Sherman’s art were tied into the strength and also vulnerability they had because of their roles as women. They wanted the audience to see a background story to the portraits and not just an image of a beautiful face.
After finishing her American schooling, Cassatt used her friends and family as live models to draw and paint, and had an increasing fascination with going to museums and copying the items on display. It should be mentioned that a significant portion of her life in America is happening at the same time as the Civil War. As the war drew to a close in 1865, Cassatt knew the next important step for any young emerging artist in the 19th century: going abroad. Going once again against her parents’ wishes, Cassatt planned to move to Europe and become a full-fledged artist at the tender age of twenty-one. Her father is quoted as saying that he “would almost rather see her dead than have her go to Europe by herself to become an artist.” Her parents’ hesitation no doubt stemmed from the loss of their beloved child Robbie. Cassatt was persistent however, and seeing her friends (including Eliza) making their own endeavors to Europe only added to her determination. It is said that Cassatt’s move irreparably shook the close relationship she had with her father, but nonetheless, she and her mother traveled to Paris in December of
Mary Cassatt was most widely known for her impressionist pieces that depicted mother (or nanny) and child. She was faced with many struggles throughout her life and received much criticism, even after her death in 1926. She found it difficult to receive appropriate recognition for her pieces during her early career. Many were unaccepted by the Salon. Cassatt lived for many years in France after her successful career, which ended abruptly when she went blind. Her talent placed her pieces in many famous museums throughout the world and landed her name among the famous artists of her time. As well as paving the way for powerful women, like herself. She lived during a time of suffragettes searching for equality.
Alice Neel’s painting Suzanne Moss was created in 1962 using oil paint on canvas. As the title suggests, the painting depicts a woman’s portrait. Now resigning in the Chazen Museum in Madison, WI, this portrait of a woman lunging is notable for the emotional intensity it provokes as well as her expressionistic use of brush strokes and color. The scene is set by a woman, presumably Suzanne Moss, dressed in dull back and blues lounging across a seat, staring off to the side, avoiding eye contact with the viewer. The unique style and technique of portraiture captures the woman’s piercing gaze and alludes to the interior emotions of the subject. In Suzanne Moss, Alice Neel uses desultory brush strokes combined with contrast of warm and cool shadows
Judy Chicago comments in her essay that she “had been made to feel ashamed of her own aesthetic impulses as a woman, pushed to make art that looked as if it had been made by a man.” The idea that female artists were not permitted to draw from their personal experiences completely undermines the basis of what art is. Art provides context of culture: it adds meaning and relevance to the time that it was created, and the artists’ personal experiences is what drives the artwork, and society, forward. Chicago’s blatant truths about women and their art in the early 70’s describes the struggles of walking between the worlds of femininity and the regular world talked about by Woolf. It’s impossible to deny the importance of femininity. If one is not
Rewald, John. Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1978.
Adèle Ratignolle uses art to beautify her home. Madame Ratignolle represents the ideal mother-woman (Bloom 119). Her chief concerns and interests are for her husband and children. She was society’s model of a woman’s role. Madame Ratignolle’s purpose for playing the pia...
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
Barnett, Peter. “The French Revolution in Art”. ArtId, January 7th 2009. Web. 5th May 2013.
Christina Rossetti's poem, “In An Artist’s Studio”, explores how men foster a need for control by creating unrealistic expectations for women through their fantasies. Through the use of repetition, contrast of imagery, and symbolism, Rossetti guides us through the gallery inside of an artist’s mind, portraying the fantasies that give him a sense of control over the women he creates.
Holt, Elizabeth G. From the Classicist to the Impressionists: Art and Architecture in the 19th Century. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1966.