Sketch of Reine and Child 1902

Mary Cassatt made this drawing of Reine and Child with pastel on paper, though the exact date is unknown. I love how the surface texture of the paper comes through, adding a kind of quiet energy to the piece. The visible marks really make this drawing work, with the strokes building form and volume out of what is essentially a collection of coloured lines. It's a great example of how much can be achieved with economy of means. See how the red pastel around the mother's head becomes a kind of aura, and how the child is almost dissolving into the ground. Cassatt was interested in the intimacies of domestic life, and she often painted mothers and children. There’s a wonderful sketchiness here, which reminds me of the drawings of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who captured the quiet beauty of everyday life. It's interesting to consider art as an ongoing dialogue between artists, each building on the ideas and techniques of those who came before.