Mother Rose Nursing Her Child 1900

Mary Cassatt made this pastel drawing, Mother Rose Nursing Her Child. The overall visual effect evokes tenderness through soft lines and harmonious colors. Cassatt uses a limited color palette to focus attention on form and emotional expression. The drawing employs broken strokes of color which build up the composition through layering and contrast. Observe how the artist destabilizes conventional portraiture. The traditional focus on the individual is diffused across the shared space of mother and child. The drawing offers a modern interpretation of motherhood. Cassatt uses the pastel medium to explore themes of intimacy and domesticity with a clear formal structure. Through this intimate depiction, Cassatt elevates the everyday to the level of the profound.