Mother's Kiss

1890-1891

Mary Cassatt

Associated Names
Mary Cassatt

Artist, American, 1844 - 1926

The image shows an adult and an infant in a relaxed, intimate pose. The adult on the left holds the infant, with their heads close together. The adult appears to be kissing or nuzzling the child's face. The adult has styled hair in an updo and wears a floral-patterned garment. The unclothed infant is nestled against the adult's chest, with short dark hair. There are no visible accessories or jewelry. The background is plain.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery M87

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    color drypoint, softground etching, and aquatint on Japanese paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 34.93 × 22.86 cm (13 3/4 × 9 in.)
    sheet: 37.2 x 27.6 cm (14 5/8 x 10 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.2759

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Mathews and Shapiro 1989, no. 11, iv/v

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1950

  • Prints by Mary Cassatt. Rosenwald Collection and gift of Miss Elisabeth Achelis, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1950.

1951

  • Mary Cassatt and her Parisian friends, Pasadena Art Institute, CA, 1951, no. 42.

1958

  • Color Etchings and Aquatints by Mary Cassatt, Ogunquit Museum, ME, 1958.

1963

  • Prints and Drawings by Mary Cassatt, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1963.

1964

  • Prints by Mary Cassatt, organized by the Smithsonian Travelling Exhibition Service and circulated to 10 venues (Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY; Norton Gallery & School of Art, Palm Beach, FL; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI; Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS; Charles & Emma Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH; Columbus Gallery of Fine Art, Columbus, OH; Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA; and A.D. White Museum of Art at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY), 1964-1965.

1965

  • An Exhibition of Christmas Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965.

1967

  • Exhibition of Christmas Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1967.

1968

  • An Exhibition of Christmas Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968.

1970

  • Mary Cassatt, 1844 - 1926, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970.

1973

  • Mary Cassatt, 1844-1926. Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA, 1973 - 1974.

  • Whistler, Cassatt and Hassam: three American printmakers, Rutgers University Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ, 1973.

1989

  • Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, 1989-1990, no. 11-IV, repro.

Bibliography

1979

  • Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Graphic Work. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979, no. 149, iii/iv.

1989

  • Mathews, Nancy Mowll, and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989, no. 11, iv/v.

Inscriptions

recto: at lower left in graphite in later hand: E; verso: none

Markings

none

Wikidata ID

Q64960367

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