The cradle

Berthe Morisot (French, 1841-1895)
Le Berceau (The cradle), 1872
oil on canvas
image: Musee d'Orsay http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&nnumid=001132&cHash=366b77b867

A beautiful picture by Berthe Morisot. Focused on the daily life of the Modern woman, Morisot captured beautiful moments. Morisot's sister modeled for this painting and she is looking down upon her own baby. The simple beauty of the cradle curatin and focused attention of the mother. Admittedly, Morisot falls into a number of artists I neglected for a long time. It took me awhile to develop not only an appreciation for Impressionism but an aesthetic interest in these more quiet paintings.

Along with Mary Cassatt, Morisot is considered one of the most important women painters of the late 19th century. Very good friends with Edouard Manet, Morisot was not just a woman painter but exhibited alongside other Impressionists of her time (she was the first woman to join the circle of French Impressionists). Despite her connections with this group, she was not as well known during her lifetime.

Mother and child

Young Mother Sewing, 1900
Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926)
Oil on canvas
36 3/8 x 29 in.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image: Heilbrunn Timeline

I was reminded of Mary Cassatt's birthday by an Art of the Day reader along with a suggestion to celebrate that with a week of women artists. I'm going to try to include some good links to more women artists in related subject areas. So, we start the week off (a little late!) with Mary Cassatt.

An American expatriate, Cassatt spent most of her adult life in France where she met Edgar Degas and eventually exhibited with the Impressionists which influenced her work. Cassatt chose her vocation, entering art school at the age of 15. With only minor support from family she stayed focused on the artistic life, believing that her career was not compatible with family life (which unfortunately was so often the case). Cassatt's popularity lies in her extensive focus on the subject of mother and child. I'm drawn by this particular work due to the little girl's gaze at the viewer.

Women Artists in Nineteenth-Century France

Spider

Maman, 1999
Louise Bourgeois
Steel, marble
9271 x 8915 x 10236 mm
sculpture
Tate Modern, London (and other institutions, it was eventually cast in a series of 6)

I was able to use some of my own pictures (2004) for today's work (not the greatest, but I like the one with me in it :) Mom took it so the top of the spider is cut off ;). Maman (even has its own Wikipedia page) was originally commissioned as part of the Unilever Series for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall (where you see it in the picture)

Spiders are common in Bourgeois's work and allude to spinning, weaving, nurturing and protection (her mother was a weaver) despite their inherent creepy nature as well. Bourgeois has said, “The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother. “ (Tate Press Release, 2008) This is the largest of her spiders (I've seen a few) and it commands a space even as large as Turbine Hall.

If you ever seen the work of Bourgeois you know how intimate yet unnerving it can be. Her biography is known to invoke the subjects of her work, as she often discusses it, and while fascinating, it also is curious to approach the work without as much biographical baggage, you may be inclined to spend some more time with it, and her titles often give you a starting point for her themes of femininity, isolation and and sexuality. At 96, Bourgeouis is still working and has already left a legacy of art which reaches indefinitely into the future.