Art Talk: Mother and Child

in #arttalk5 years ago (edited)

Hello! I took a bit of a break from Art Talk after the death of my mother in January.


Henry Moore, English, Mother and Child, 1949

I now feel inspiration to talk about one of my favorite subjects in art: Mother and Child.

For a long time I have have been drawn to the interaction of and beauty of a mother nurturing and caring for her child.

I think this is one reason that I am drawn to Henry Moore's work One of his major themes is the relationship of Mother and Child.


Henry Moore, Draped Reclining Mother and Baby, 1983

Below are some examples of mother and child from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The first two are from the 1300's and the next two are 500 years later in the 1800s.


Byzantine painter, Enthroned Madonna and Child, 13th Century

The symbolism of this picture stands out as well as baby Jesus looking like a miniature adult on Mary's lap.


Giotto, Madonna and Child, 1310

Influence by Byzantine art Giotto uses some similar symbolism and adds a little playfulness to Jesus as he grips Mary's finger and grabs for the flower.

Impressionist painted everyday people and so of course there are some great examples of mother and child.

Claude Monet, 1875, Close up of Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son

This is a picture of Camille (28) and Jean (8) in Argenteuil were the family lived for seven years. Camille died in 1879 four years after this painting.


Berthe Morisot, French, 1869 /70, The Mother and Sister of the Artist

Often mother and child pictures are during the first years of a child's life, and those are beautiful and precious. I especially like this painting as it shows a mother in mourning and her grown daughter close by.


As my brother, @jarvie, reminded me this past weekend. Photography is art!
Here are some of my favorite Mother and Child pictures I have taken.



Scott Jarvie, 2019

Taken days before my mom's death this picture taken by my brother is a beautiful work of art. It shows a mother and her child, with the roles we usually think of reversed. The child taking care of and nurturing her mother as she prepares to leave this life.

This morning my sister sent me an email with the pdf Crossing the Creek which is great because as I read the section about grief I realized that I am still and will continue to grieve for sometime and writing this post has been helpful in the process.

"Grief is actually very pervasive. We grieve more regularly than we may realize. We grieve every loss or disappointment we experience. The intensity of grief depends upon the intensity of the loss, but we generally are not aware of our grief until it becomes intense. The intensity of our grief may ebb and flow, but it is a part of who and what we are."

Art Talk Series Highlights
Art Talk: Introduction has a link to all Art Talk posts
Art Talk: Emotion In Bronze
Art Talk: Moore in America
Art Talk: Art Tells Our Story
Art Talk: Highlight tour of the MET
Art Talk: Art in Paris in the 1870s

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Really great post. Thanks.

Good post. I'm a lifelong art lover -- okay, self-professed art snob. ;-)

Thanks Laura. Did you check out the other Art Talk posts? The introduction on has all of them.

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