Maternal Caress 1921

This is Mary Cassatt’s ‘Maternal Caress’, a drawing which lives here at the Art Institute of Chicago. Look at these barely-there marks, so tentative and searching! It's like seeing Cassatt's process in real-time, the work of making a picture made visible. The texture is all about the paper, smooth and cool, peeking through those delicate lines. It’s the ghost of an image, a fleeting moment captured in a whisper. Notice how the pressure of the pencil changes, thick here, thin there, defining the curve of a cheek, the roundness of a baby's head. That one dark line under the baby's foot – what does it do? It anchors the whole composition, giving weight to their embrace, pushing them forward. It reminds me a little of Degas' drawings, that same interest in intimacy and everyday life, but Cassatt brings her own gentle touch, a uniquely feminine perspective. It's a drawing that embraces ambiguity, inviting us to feel the tenderness and complexity of motherhood.