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Mother and Child (Baby Getting Up from His Nap)

Mary Cassatt American
ca. 1899
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
This painting focuses on the bond between mother and child, which became Cassatt’s specialty after about 1890. The artist translated the popular Impressionist subject of adult female bathers into genteel maternal terms: instead of washing herself, a beautifully dressed woman washes her child. The blond, blue-eyed toddler is said to have been a boy named Jules, one of Cassatt’s frequent models. The canvas, with its rich color and unconventional treatment of space, was the first by Cassatt to enter the Metropolitan’s collection.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mother and Child (Baby Getting Up from His Nap)
  • Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
  • Date: ca. 1899
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 36 1/2 x 29 in. (92.7 x 73.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: George A. Hearn Fund, 1909
  • Object Number: 09.27
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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The Map, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of three
The Map
Mary Cassatt
1890
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of two
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1889
The Barefooted Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fifth state of five
The Barefooted Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1896–97
The Stocking, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; fifth state of six
The Stocking
Mary Cassatt
1890
The Mirror, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; sixth state of six
The Mirror
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1891

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