5. Mary Cassatt, American, 1844-1926. After the Bath, c. 1901. Pastel on paper, 65.4 x 99.7 cm. Gift of J. H. Wade, 1920.379

In After the Bath, Mary Cassatt has captured an intimate moment between a mother and two children. The young girl leans on her mother's shoulder and grasps the baby's hand while the mother holds the baby's chubby ankle. These gestures work to create a linear pattern of limbs that gently directs the viewer's perusal of the composition. Cassatt's extraordinary ability to paint the rosy softness of baby flesh is seen here in the infant's round cheeks and bare stomach.

The admiring glances of the mother and the small girl toward the male child can be compared to traditional images of Mary and the infant Christ. They may also be related to the contemporary preference for male over female children, which Cassatt herself remarked upon. Always a strong supporter of the rights of women, Cassatt understood from her own experience the lack of opportunity accorded to them. As an upper-middle-class woman, she was not encouraged to pursue a professional career as an artist.

Born in 1844 near Pittsburgh, Cassatt lived much of her life in France. She traveled in Europe as a child and saw many great works of art in European collections. In 1861, at age 17, she was enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she studied for four years. Frustrated by the conservative teaching at the Academy and the lack of excellent painting collections in the United States at the time, Cassatt persuaded her father to allow her to study in Paris. Following the tradition honored by Berthe Morisot and other artists, Cassatt concentrated on copying in the Louvre. In 1877 she was befriended by Edgar Degas, who invited her to show her works in the impressionist exhibitions. Like Degas, Cassatt never abandoned solid drawing for the more dissolved form of other artists in the impressionist group, such as Claude Monet and Morisot.

Vivian Kung and Patricia Richmond
Teacher Resource Center
Department of Education and Public Programs

© 1997 The Cleveland Museum of Art