Nagels knippen c. 1904

This is Mary Cassatt’s, Nagels Knippen, an etching on paper, a quiet moment captured, held in the Rijksmuseum. It’s all about lines, delicate and strong, coming together. Look at the marks around the child's belly, they are soft, gentle. You sense the artist’s hand, the pressure she applied to the needle, the way she built up those shadows with such care. This etching is so intimate; you can almost feel the connection between the mother and child. There is a lot of open space around the figures. Notice the delicate rendering of the mother’s face and hair in comparison to the child's leg where the lines are more simplified. The simplification gives the impression that Cassatt is trying to represent the essence of this moment rather than simply depicting the scene. It reminds me of Whistler, how he used a similar economy of means to such moving effect. Art is just a conversation, isn't it? A whisper passed down through generations.