Mother and Daughter Looking at the Baby 1905

Editor: We are looking at Mary Cassatt’s pastel drawing "Mother and Daughter Looking at the Baby," created in 1905. It’s such a tender depiction of motherhood, almost unfinished in places. What do you see in this work? Curator: Cassatt's focus on the domestic sphere was quite deliberate. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the art world, and society, often relegated women artists to these subjects. By embracing it, Cassatt reclaimed the narrative, presenting the intimate moments of women’s lives as worthy of artistic exploration, challenging prevailing patriarchal standards. Editor: So, you're saying she took a subject considered "lesser" and made it profound? Curator: Exactly. Cassatt was making a statement about what constitutes valuable subject matter and whose experiences are deemed important. Think about how often women's interior lives are overlooked. Cassatt is giving us access to a world of maternal love and connection, but doing so from a distinctly female gaze. Have you thought about the incomplete portions, the seeming rawness of the strokes? Editor: I hadn’t really considered the politics of it, but that’s a very interesting perspective! About the sketchiness, I thought that choice might be to keep it from becoming sentimental or saccharine. Curator: Perhaps. Or consider the incomplete rendering in terms of the endless, ongoing work of mothering? It is never complete; there’s always something more needed. Also, the use of pastel allowed Cassatt to depict fleeting moments. In choosing her medium, she suggests, that these women’s lives—mothers’ lives—although not permanent, although always changing, deserve consideration. Editor: I see it now; this drawing embodies much more than just a mother and her children! Curator: Indeed, and it urges us to think critically about representation and power within art. Hopefully we’ll be better prepared next time for recognizing the role women played as agents and actors.