Motherhood 1906

Mary Cassatt painted Motherhood with oil on canvas, using the quick, visible brushwork of the Impressionists. Cassatt turned to a subject close to her own experience as a woman. It is the everyday nature of the scene that is most remarkable: a woman with a child on her lap. The artist's loose brushstrokes give the image a sense of spontaneity, as if we are seeing a fleeting moment captured in time. The beauty of this painting lies not only in its composition, but in the way Cassatt has used her materials, the fluid strokes creating soft contours and warm flesh tones. The painting elevates a domestic scene to the level of high art. Through her choices as a painter, Cassatt acknowledges the skill and labor involved in motherhood, and invites us to reconsider the boundaries between the domestic and the artistic realms.