Art Institute of Chicago

The Child's Bath

Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926)

Date

1893

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

France

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The Child’s Bath is a tender portrayal of familial closeness, a subject that Mary Cassatt explored throughout her career. The caregiver’s cheek brushing the child’s shoulder, her encircling embrace, and the child’s pudgy hand on her knee suggest an emotional bond between the two. Captivated by a large exhibition of Japanese prints in Paris in 1890, Cassatt set out to produce a series of color prints influenced by Japanese aesthetics. She then continued her investigation across media, culminating in this bold composition, with its dramatically flattened picture plane, decorative patterning, and bright palette.

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