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Bill Lying on His Mother's Lap

Mary Cassatt American
ca. 1889
Not on view
Cassatt’s serial treatment of mothers and children emerged first in her graphic works during a period in which she experimented intensely with printmaking techniques. Here, the blurred quality of the lines results from the use of soft-ground etching and the murky, aqueous background from liquid aquatint. During her lifetime, critics appreciated her unsentimental approach to the maternal subject. In this image, baby Bill appears sprawled across his caregiver’s lap in an ungainly posture. Other prints show Bill with a nurse or nanny, raising questions about the identity of the so-called mother figure seen here.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bill Lying on His Mother's Lap
  • Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
  • Date: ca. 1889
  • Medium: Soft-ground etching and aquatint; fourth state of five
  • Dimensions: plate: 7 1/16 x 5 7/16 in. (17.9 x 13.8 cm)
    sheet: 13 11/16 x 8 1/8 in. (34.8 x 20.6 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1919
  • Object Number: 19.1.3
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Woman Bathing (La Toilette), Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fourth state of four (Mathews & Shapiro)
Woman Bathing (La Toilette)
Mary Cassatt
Printer Jointly printed by the artist and Monsieur LeRoy
1890–91
Powder Horn, Horn (cow), lead, American
Powder Horn
American
18th century
Cloth: Label 1, Richard Tuttle American, Etching with aquatint, spitbite, sugarlift, softground, fabric collé
Cloth: Label 1
Multiple artists/makers
2002–05
Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly, Mary Cassatt American, Oil on canvas, American
Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly
Mary Cassatt
1880
Man and Two Women (Henderson Ledger Artist B), Frank Henderson Native American, Pencil, colored pencil, and ink on paper, Arapaho
Man and Two Women (Henderson Ledger Artist B)
Frank Henderson
ca. 1882

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