Mary Cassatt, The Barefoot Child, 1897, 71.76 x 53.66 cm, off-white wove paper, pastel, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick.
Mary Cassatt, The Barefoot Child
Mother as Ideal, Mother as Protector
Mary Cassatt, one of the few female Impressionists, created this image of mother and child towards the end of her career, when she enjoyed a prominence and thus a greater artistic freedom. She allows viewers to witness her rendering process here, as each pastel stroke is distinct and visible. Cassatt embraced pastel while the medium was still considered effeminate by the European art establishment, and it came to characterize much of her later work.
Cassatt created mostly figural compositions throughout her career and was prolific with images of mother and child, some of which directly reference images of the Virgin and Child, imbuing them with an idealized warmth and light. Though she never had children herself, Cassatt often worked from images of her family, using them as models. In this piece, Cassatt seems to create something of a private, enchanted world for this mother and child, filled with light and movement and vibrant color but with little specificity of clothing or background, which heightens the idealized, dreamlike effect.
Cassatt also depicts the mother figure as a protector. She holds her child carefully, as if on display, but with a clear tenderness. Her head rests on the child’s shoulder, and the child holds her fingers. The physical closeness of mother and child signify the mother’s societal role as her child’s protector.