Detail of Young Mother Sewing by Mary Cassatt in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2013

Young Mother Sewing
1900

Mary Cassatt American


Object Details

Title: Young Mother Sewing

Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)

Date: 1900

Culture: American

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 36 3/8 x 29 in. (92.4 x 73.7 cm)

Credit Line: H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929

Accession Number: 29.100.48


In about 1890 Cassatt redirected her art toward women caring for children and children alone—themes that reflected her affection for her nieces and nephews and the prevailing cultural interest in child rearing. Cassatt enlisted two unrelated models to enact the roles of mother and child for this painting. Louisine Havemeyer, who purchased it in 1901, remarked on its truthfulness: “Look at that little child that has just thrown herself against her mother’s knee, regardless of the result and oblivious to the fact that she could disturb ‘her mamma.’ And she is quite right, she does not disturb her mother. Mamma simply draws back a bit and continues to sew.”

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10425