In the 1890s, Mary Cassatt grew dissatisfied with the Impressionist goal of rendering a purely physical world and embraced a style of painting called Neo-Traditionalism, which married realism with subjects having symbolic or allegorical meaning. Deeply influenced by her study of paintings in the Musée du Louvre and by several trips to Italy, Cassatt admired the layers of meaning in Renaissance art and sought to bring similar content to contemporary painting.
In Maternal Caress, the subjects are framed to emphasize their rounded forms and to limit external distractions. Although this scene recalls medieval and Renaissance compositions of the Madonna and Child, Cassatt has increased the sense of intimacy between her figures by shifting the perspective over the mother’s shoulder. In this fashion, Cassatt stressed the vital role of women in childcare.
Mary Cassatt’s (American, 1844–1926) paintings, pastels, and prints demonstrate her personal philosophy that “women should be someone and not something.” In domestic scenes, Cassatt explores the lives and occupations of women, showing them as active and engaged figures. She depicts women reading, caregivers bathing children, and ladies enjoying tea, sealing a letter, or driving a carriage.
Born in Pennsylvania, Cassatt was the only American to join the French Impressionists. Although she spent most of her life abroad, her family’s connections to Philadelphia have made the museum, which holds eighty-three artworks and numerous letters by Cassatt, an important center for her work.
Source: Philadelphia Museum of Art
