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Mother Playing with Child

Mary Cassatt American
ca. 1897
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mother Playing with Child
  • Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
  • Date: ca. 1897
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Pastel on wove paper, mounted on cardboard
  • Dimensions: 25 1/2 x 31 1/2 in. (64.8 x 80 cm)
  • Credit Line: From the Collection of James Stillman, Gift of Dr. Ernest G. Stillman, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.16.23
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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The Map, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of three
The Map
Mary Cassatt
1890
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of two
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1889
The Barefooted Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fifth state of five
The Barefooted Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1896–97
The Stocking, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; fifth state of six
The Stocking
Mary Cassatt
1890
The Mirror, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; sixth state of six
The Mirror
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1891

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