Susan Comforting the Baby
Mary Cassatt·1881
Historical Context
Susan Comforting the Baby (1881, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) depicts a domestic caretaking scene with an intimacy and psychological specificity that distinguishes Cassatt's maternal subjects from more generic treatments of the theme. Susan may be a family servant or companion — the composition reflects the social reality of bourgeois domestic life, in which child care was shared between mothers and female domestic staff. The baby's position and the comforting gesture are rendered with the close physical observation that marks Cassatt's best work with children.
Technical Analysis
The comforting gesture — one figure leaning toward another — creates a dynamic compositional relationship that Cassatt renders with characteristic close observation of physical posture and gesture. The palette is warm and domestic, and the brushwork moves between attentive observation in the faces and looser handling in the surrounding elements.
