Mother and Child

Mary Cassatt's intimate drypoint depicts a woman and young child in a moment of quiet domestic life. The artist employs delicate line work to capture tender physicality—the child's relaxed posture against the mother's body, her protective arm around the small figure. Cassatt's graphic approach, with its emphasis on contour and simplified background, demonstrates her mastery of printmaking techniques. The composition reflects her sustained interest in the interior world of women and children, subjects she explored throughout her career, establishing new visual vocabularies for depicting familial bonds and everyday maternal experience.