Mary Cassatt and the 'Modern Madonna' of the 19th Century

This is an investigation into the relationship of Mary Cassatt's mother and child paintings to contemporary interpretations of the Madonna. A study of Cassatt's career from 1860 to her first series of mothers and children (1882-1892) reveals patterns of artistic endeavor that are important in analyzing these works. Beyond recounting her training and the old and new masters she studied, a survey of her early period shows how she assimilated these artistic influences. One discovers her characteristic methods of transforming other works of art into her own creations. Also, it is possible to see how artistic principles like Realism remain a basic focus throughout the evolution of her style. The study of Cassatt's career leads to the period during which she first turned to the mother and child subject. This period of her work shows strong ties with the contemporary Symbolist movement. She had already undergone a phase of "anti-Impressionism" similar to that of her friends, Renoir, Pissarro, and Degas, and was in a position to absorb current Symbolist ideas. The mural of The Modern Woman and the related paintings demonstrate Cassatt's particular version of the style and themes popular among radical artists around 1890. Once having established this interest in the "Idea", Cassatt's contemporary mother and child works become susceptible to interpretations beyond simple naturalistic depiction. In order to evaluate the possibility of Cassatt's mothers and children being associated with the theme of the Madonna and Child, it is necessary to reconstruct the concept of the Madonna in the nineteenth century. In doing so, it becomes apparent that this symbol of Catholic doctrine had taken on a new popular meaning as to the century progressed--the glorification of Motherhood. Nineteenth century images of the Madonna reflected this humanizing trend. From the first revival versions of the Nazarenes and Ingres, artists attempted to build on Madonna art of the past, but to modernize it so that it would have meaning to their own time. In the last third of the century, this meant an increasingly Realist interpretation of the Madonna and Child, even showing the traditional poses enacted by modern women in peasant or urban settings. From 1890 to 1900, Symbolist ideas bolstered interest in the hidden meaning behind reality, and the Madonna and Child flourished in works of greater or lesser ambiguity by Realist and Symbolist artists. Even those artists who claimed no religious intention, like Eugene Carriere, found their mothers and children categorized as belonging to the tradition of the Madonna and Child. This history of the nineteeth-century Madonna is the context in which Cassatt's mothers and children must be seen. She began the series at the crest of the great wave of late century interest in the subject. She was putting herself in direct competition with Carriere as painter of Maternite. She was also aware of her American context, since American artists were greatly interested in this theme. Her dealer, Durand-Ruel, was also an encouraging force and promoted her maternal scenes as the "modern Holy Family." A linear "primitivism", derived from Italian Renaissance and Japanese models, marked the first series of mother and child paintings and pastels. Her later variations, after 1893, moved away from this original "purity", as she continued to use the theme until the end of her working life. But throughout this phase of her career, she used the mother and child subject as a significant contribution to the "Modern Madonna" of the nineteenth century.