Mary Cassatt (1844 - 1926) Mother Resting Her Cheek on Her Daughter’s Blond Head (also known as Maternite), 1913 Oil on canvas, 18 x 15 in. Signed on recto, upper right corner
Provenance: André Urban, Paris; Arthur Tooth & Sons, London; Findlay Gallery, New York, 1957; Consignment to Hirschl & Adler from Richard Smart, January 1977; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth J. Lay, Sr., Toledo, Ohio, 19822010; (Mr. Kenneth Lay) to the estate of Kenneth J. Lay, Sr. By the 1910s, Mary Cassatt was in her 70s and largely recognized as a major figure of the Impressionist movement, and this painting is one of the finest examples of her intimate and tender subject matter: mothers and children. She often portrayed the bonds between mother and child, capturing the warmth, love, and care that define these relationships. Unlike her Japanese-inspired paintings that innovatively disrupt spatial conventions and insert beautiful patterns into the scene, this painting presents a simple, strippeddown moment from everyday life, and features the soft, muted colors that create the atmosphere in many of her works. Cassatt was a master at capturing the subtle gestures and expressions that convey emotion, and her paintings of women and children are considered some of the most beautiful and intimate depictions of the genre. The brushwork in Mother Resting Her Cheek on Her Daughter’s Blond Head is exquisite, with emotion culminating in the warm physical contact between the pair. Cassatt pays attention to the unique facial features of the child and conveys intimacy while awarding the two subjects their individuality. The clothing and accessories on both the mother and the child are depicted with great attention to detail, as these elements often allowed Cassatt to indicate the social status and roles of her subjects. In this case,
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the unknown pair of sitters appear to belong to the upper class, and are likely among Cassatt’s family or friends at her country estate in France. This painting is understated yet masterful when compared with the more ambitious paintings in the pinnacle of Cassatt’s mature period, which included well-known works such as the Child’s Bath and Little Girl in Blue Armchair. The open composition in Mother Resting Her Cheek on Her Daughter’s Blond Head leads the viewer’s eye from the mother’s loving gaze onto the daughter’s face, and the close pose reflects the intimate emotional nature of the work. Cassatt was prolific throughout her career, until the last years of her life. Mother Resting Her Cheek on Her Daughter’s Blond Head is one of Cassatt’s later paintings, as by 1914, Cassatt had lost her eyesight almost completely due to advancing diabetes. In the last years leading up to this, Cassatt began etching, drawing and painting more observationally, to capture certain moments, which opposed her longer process of producing numerous states (working proofs) when making prints. Estimates suggest that Cassatt made around 200 paintings, drawings and pastels in her lifetime.
$400,000 - 600,000