Quietude c. 1891

Curator: Well, isn’t that tender? I mean, it makes you want to sigh a little. It’s light and ethereal, like a whispered secret. Editor: This is “Quietude,” a print by Mary Cassatt, likely created around 1891. What’s striking is how it uses the everyday to speak to larger truths. Cassatt often explored the relationships between women, particularly mothers and children. Curator: Exactly! Look at the way the child snuggles into the mother, almost merging with her. And the loose, sketchy lines – it feels so intimate and immediate, like a stolen moment. The blank space almost amplifies that feeling of quiet contemplation. Editor: True. The domestic sphere was historically, and often continues to be, undervalued as a site of labor and meaning. Cassatt, though, elevates this familiar space, this bond between mother and child. Note that "quietude" also applies to a sociopolitical sphere in which the domestic remains underrepresented, and these quiet spaces must not also become silent spaces of invisible work. Curator: But don't you think that Cassatt gives a voice to what happens between women and how there isn’t necessarily a silence around how women have spoken in confidence? There is a unique comfort that they provide for each other that this expresses perfectly. This work embodies that spirit, where gestures and proximity are all that are needed. Editor: Perhaps, and while I appreciate that reading, let’s also consider how the limited art historical recognition granted to domestic scenes might reflect a patriarchal society that historically sidelined women's experiences. The image does highlight a kind of tenderness, which is important. But is it the complete story? Curator: Oh, I agree! And the fact that it’s a print…there’s something about the reproducibility of it that's interesting. This is not some grand, one-off statement, but something intended to be shared, multiplied even, bringing that intimacy to more and more people. Maybe it shows the intimacy to the many in contrast with this intimate moment? Editor: Yes, prints democratized art, allowing these representations of intimate moments to enter a wider circulation. We need more artwork like that now that shows this and provides visibility. Curator: Hmm, well, this makes me want to revisit my own quiet moments. Maybe steal a cuddle or two. Editor: Me too. It highlights the power of images to remind us what truly matters, and urges us to re-examine the significance of the private, shared sphere.