Mother About To Wash Her Sleeping Child Analysis
Mother About to Wash Her Sleeping Child:
Mary Cassatt
Lauren Eddie Gierard
Art History 318
Professor Enholm
April 2nd 2015 Mother About to Wash Her Sleeping Child, is an oil painting by Mary Cassatt painted in 1880.1 It is currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on the third floor of the Art of the Americas Building. 2As the title states the painting depicts a motherly figure bathing a sleepy child. The arrangement and treatment of these figures embody many of the characteristics of the impressionist movement; from its loose brushwork, bold use of color, and depiction of contemporary life at that time. Note the influences from photography and Japanese prints that were popular during the late 1800s. Mary …show more content…
She was born on May 22, 1844 into favorable circumstances, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, now a part of Pittsburgh.4 Her father, Robert Cassatt, was a successful stockbroker and her mother, Katherine Johnston, came from a wealthy banking family.5 As a child, she traveled often overseas with her family and resided in England, France, and Germany for extended periods. 6During this period, she was exposed to some of the finest art of the time. When attending the Paris World Fair of 1855, she had the privilege to view many French artists’ work; such as Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, Eugene Delacroix, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro. Two of these artists, Degas and Pissarro, would later become her colleagues, friends, and mentors.7 During her childhood travels, she would receive her first lessons in art, and sparked her life long passion.8 At the age of fifteen, against her family’s wishes, she began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.9 Women made up only twenty percent of the school’s student body. It immediately became apparent to Mary that most of them were not there with the aim of making a career in art but more as gaining a socially valuable talent. 10Cassatt on the other hand was determined to have an art career and become …show more content…
Both illustrate not only how she fit into the Impressionist movement itself, but also how her experience as a woman artist in the 19th century differed from those of her male counterparts. We discuss that through the subject matter of her work we can see a clear distinction of who and where she could paint in comparison to male artists and how that created her own signature mother with child painting style. We examined her progression as an artist, independent thinking at the time, and her self-determination against the cultural norms for women. Thus, in the end she became not only a prominent Impressionist artist, but also an advocate for the movement through promoting the investment of impressionist artwork to affluent Americans. Cassatt actually helped spread the movement to the United States. Although she gained notoriety equal to her French counterparts in her art, not until the movement had passed and women’s rights had become the norm that she was fully valued and appreciated as an
Mary Cassatt
Lauren Eddie Gierard
Art History 318
Professor Enholm
April 2nd 2015 Mother About to Wash Her Sleeping Child, is an oil painting by Mary Cassatt painted in 1880.1 It is currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on the third floor of the Art of the Americas Building. 2As the title states the painting depicts a motherly figure bathing a sleepy child. The arrangement and treatment of these figures embody many of the characteristics of the impressionist movement; from its loose brushwork, bold use of color, and depiction of contemporary life at that time. Note the influences from photography and Japanese prints that were popular during the late 1800s. Mary …show more content…
She was born on May 22, 1844 into favorable circumstances, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, now a part of Pittsburgh.4 Her father, Robert Cassatt, was a successful stockbroker and her mother, Katherine Johnston, came from a wealthy banking family.5 As a child, she traveled often overseas with her family and resided in England, France, and Germany for extended periods. 6During this period, she was exposed to some of the finest art of the time. When attending the Paris World Fair of 1855, she had the privilege to view many French artists’ work; such as Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, Eugene Delacroix, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro. Two of these artists, Degas and Pissarro, would later become her colleagues, friends, and mentors.7 During her childhood travels, she would receive her first lessons in art, and sparked her life long passion.8 At the age of fifteen, against her family’s wishes, she began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.9 Women made up only twenty percent of the school’s student body. It immediately became apparent to Mary that most of them were not there with the aim of making a career in art but more as gaining a socially valuable talent. 10Cassatt on the other hand was determined to have an art career and become …show more content…
Both illustrate not only how she fit into the Impressionist movement itself, but also how her experience as a woman artist in the 19th century differed from those of her male counterparts. We discuss that through the subject matter of her work we can see a clear distinction of who and where she could paint in comparison to male artists and how that created her own signature mother with child painting style. We examined her progression as an artist, independent thinking at the time, and her self-determination against the cultural norms for women. Thus, in the end she became not only a prominent Impressionist artist, but also an advocate for the movement through promoting the investment of impressionist artwork to affluent Americans. Cassatt actually helped spread the movement to the United States. Although she gained notoriety equal to her French counterparts in her art, not until the movement had passed and women’s rights had become the norm that she was fully valued and appreciated as an