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Young Mother Sewing

Mary Cassatt American
1900
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 768
Around 1890 Cassatt focused her art on children and women caring for children—themes that reflected her affection for her nieces and nephews and the prevailing cultural interest in child rearing. The artist enlisted two unrelated models to pose as mother and child for this painting. Louisine Havemeyer, who purchased it in 1901, remarked on its truthfulness: "Look at that little child that has just thrown herself against her mother’s knee, . . . oblivious to the fact that she could disturb ‘her mamma.’ . . . Mamma simply draws back a bit and continues to sew."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Young Mother Sewing
  • Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
  • Date: 1900
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 36 3/8 x 29 in. (92.4 x 73.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.48
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
1890
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Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
ca. 1889
The Barefooted Child
Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
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The Stocking
Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
1890
The Mirror
Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
ca. 1891

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