Mother's Kiss 1890 - 1891

Editor: This is Mary Cassatt’s etching, *Mother’s Kiss*, made between 1890 and 1891. It has such an intimate and tender feel to it, almost like a fleeting glimpse of a private moment. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a powerful assertion of female experience during a period when women’s artistic voices were frequently marginalized. Cassatt, unlike her male Impressionist counterparts, often focused on the domestic sphere, not to reinforce traditional roles, but to explore the complexities of female identity within them. This print challenges the societal expectation that motherhood is simply a natural, passive role. Editor: How so? It seems very sweet. Curator: Consider the period; images of motherhood were largely sentimentalized and idealized. Cassatt presents something more genuine. Look at the direct gaze, the firm embrace. It speaks to the labor and intensity of motherhood, a perspective often omitted. This work elevates a subject relegated to the margins and proclaims its significance, giving visibility to women's lives and their relationships to their children. Does the lack of a broader social context change how you view the figures? Editor: Yes, it makes me focus less on the sweetness, and more on Cassatt's decision to focus on and elevate the importance of that intense bond, making it worthy of artistic representation. Curator: Exactly! The image enters the conversation around gendered labor in domestic spaces, reclaiming it and finding value in it. Editor: This reframing makes Cassatt’s choices so much more meaningful. Curator: Agreed. It's not just a pretty picture; it’s a statement on female experience and representation.