How to Read Paintings: The Child’s Bath by Mary Cassatt
An intimate portrait by an American female Impressionist
The Child’s Bath shows a small child propped up on a woman’s lap — with the child’s feet being bathed in a bowl of water. One senses that the water is not cold but perhaps lukewarm so as not to sting the child’s toes.
The scene takes place within what could be a bedroom, with an olive-green chest of drawers and floral papered walls behind them. The carpet is made up of various shades of brown and red — perhaps it is a Persian rug. The water jug at the front of the painting, is the closest object to the viewer.
Against this backdrop, the pattern of the woman’s dress is vivid: from neck to toe, bold lilac, green and white stripes create a complex rhythm of lines that gently cascade down the image. The same colours of the dress are repeated in the bowl of water and even in the skin tones of the child’s legs.
How does one read a painting like this? The first thing that strikes me about this painting — by the American artist Mary Cassatt — is the angle of the viewer’s gaze. We look upon the scene from above, with the…
