In Mary Cassatt’s “Mother and Child” the socio-economic class portrayed in the painting would most likely be a class on the poorer end of the spectrum. A few things within the painting suggest this, such as the old and worn chair the woman is sitting on, the child not being clothed, and their skin color seems slightly tanned; suggesting the spend a lot of time out doors. Mary Cassatt “ was born into favorable circumstances: her father, Robert Simpson Cassat (later Cassatt), was a successful stockbroker and land speculator, and her mother, Katherine Kelso Johnston, came from a banking family” (marycassatt). In this particular painting I feel as though the artist did take the social position of women into thought when doing this painting. The artist paints the child looking into a mirror, which would suggest the stereotype that woman are vain. It looks as though the mother is teaching her daughter to focus on beauty and her appearance at a very young age; this, perhaps, meaning that her mother wants her to be appealing to men and for the child to make it thier top priority.
They symbols in the artwork, such as the mirror, hold significance to the overall meaning of the art work. As Cassatt was training and learning to become a professional artist she was faced with many challenges, such as “the patronizing attitude of the male students and teachers” (marycassatt), as a woman in a profession that did not welcome women. Essentially Cassatt was very career oriented and did not conform to the roles of the traditional female. This painting depicts the tradtional roles that a woman should follow, and Cassatt probably painted this work to symbolize everything she disagreed with when it came to gender roles and traditional beliefs.
Works Cited
MaryCassatt: The Complete Works. 2002. March, 2014. <http://www.marycassatt.org/biography.html>
