Sunday, January 09, 2011

Mary Cassatt...

Mrs. Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren

 As a child growing up, we did not have any sort of art appreciation courses in school, and we did not live near art museums so learning about great art was non-existent.  Art class, yes.  We learned to use paste, scissors, water colors, crayons and such, but art appreciation was not a part of my education until I had children of my own.  As a home school mom, I loved the fact that I could pick and choose the type of education my children would have and I knew theirs would include art.  Yes, cutting and pasting, painting and drawing, but also being exposed to beautiful fine art.  This would be my education as well, and that is the beauty of home education --the teacher oftentimes learns right alongside her students. 

Mary Cassatt became one of my fast favorites because of her many, many pictures of women and children.  Our own children grew to love her work and could recognize her paintings.   It was exciting for me to think that our children would eventually be able to pick out some of the great artists from a group of paintings, but my utmost goal was that they would simply have a love and appreciation of beauty that is truly art.
 Breakfast in Bed
Is this not the way to awake every morning --a cup of coffee or tea and the joyful  innocence of a child beside you in a cozy bed?  Those were the days!

 Young Mother Sewing

I like this picture of a diligent mother fully concentrating on her sewing while her daughter leans on her lap.  There is no disruption, but a sense of "being together" that is enough.  Likely, the disruption came later on.

 Louise Nursing Her Child

What's not to love about this picture?  Both are fully captivated by each other.  What a bond!

Little Girl in a Blue Arm Chair

This picture became one of my daughter's favorites.  She requested it for her birthday, if I remember correctly, and she proudly hung it in her bedroom to look at every day.   She still has it hanging in her own home today.  If you would like to view more of Mary Cassatt's art, click here.  All paintings viewed here were selected from Mary Cassatt Complete Works.

8 comments:

  1. Mary Cassatt has always been one of my favorite, she really got the mother/child relationship.

    I just copied and sent the one of the mother nursing child, to my best friend who just had twins. So sweet.

    Thanks for that educational post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too love Mary Cassatt.

    Just yesterday my aunt was visiting from out of state and we were discussing Mary Cassatt's art.

    I have three prints of hers hanging in my house. My aunt has several also.

    Thanks for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Another Mary Cassatt fan here! Years ago, when I did 'picture study' ala Charlotte Mason style with our three daughters we did Mary Cassatt. Breakfast in Bed was a fav, but when we actually went to see it and stood before the real deal, I remember the girls excitedly saying, "That's my picture!" THey knew it so well that each of them could see it in their minds. It was theirs!

    Joyce

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful! We painted in class on Friday. Art IS so wonderful and I can see why Mary Cassatt's art touched your kids' hearts.
    My mother perused art books and listened to classical music after she put us to bed. She is a learner like you, Jody.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely post Jody! I love Mary Cassatt too -- for all of the same reasons that you've already mentioned. I hope you're staying warm this weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. And yet another Mary Cassatt fan here...so lovely!
    Thank you for sharing!
    Joanne

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely post Lily! I love her work too. I think I discovered her work by randomly picking up a book of impressionist paintings at the libraray one day -- instantly fell in love with her beautiful domestic scenes. Thanks for sharing!
    Blessings,
    GG

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've seen the nursing painting before--beautiful! And I love the picture of the child in bed with her mother. Those fat little baby legs! I miss those. Now my boys' legs are long and skinny ...

    xofrances

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments. Thanks for stopping in. Sorry, but due to spam, only registered users can comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...