Mother Playing with Child

Mary Cassatt American

Not on view

Cassatt applied pastel in thick strokes and blended it into a very fine texture and sometimes into the paper itself, as did Edgar Degas. Her repetition of a particular subject—women with children—also may have been inspired by Degas, who reiterated themes, such as ballerinas and bathing women, in accordance with his credo: "It is essential to do the same subject over again, ten times, a hundred times. Nothing in art must seem to be chance, but even movement." Cassatt used this pastel as the basis for the last of her major prints, Picking Daisies in a Field (ca. 1896–97), which remained unfinished.

Mother Playing with Child, Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise), Pastel on wove paper, mounted on cardboard, American

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Mother Playing with Child, Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise), Pastel on wove paper, mounted on cardboard, American
Mother Playing with Child, Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise), Pastel on wove paper, mounted on cardboard, American
Mother Playing with Child, Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise), Pastel on wove paper, mounted on cardboard, American
Mother Playing with Child, Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise), Pastel on wove paper, mounted on cardboard, American

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.