Pablo Picasso
Mother and Child
1921
Scroll
Pablo Picasso
Mother and Child
1921
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 39 1/2 × 32 1/16 in. (100.3 × 81.4 cm.)
Framed: 50 1/4 × 43 1/16 × 3 3/4 in. (127.6 × 109.4 × 9.5 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.279
During the summer of 1922, Pablo Picasso's subjects began to evolve from portraiture to broader, more universal themes, including a series of maternal subjects. Initially based on drawings of his wife Olga at play with their son, Paulo, this interest culminated in several works of a woman holding a child. As seen in Mother and Child, faces no longer define a specific identity, as features become more stylized and simplified, typical of the artist's Neoclassical period.
After turning away from acquiring works by Picasso during his Cubist period, in 1922 Claribel Cone renewed the sisters' interest in collecting Picasso with the commission of her portrait, which was drawn in his Neoclassical style.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, by purchase, August 16, 1939; Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne; Dr. G.F. Reber, by purchase; the artist
Adelyn Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940", June 6, 1941-September 1, 1941.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 79.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Memorial Exhibition", January 13, 1950-March 5, 1950.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23, 1953-November 22, 1953.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to M. Knoedler & Company, New York, January 24, 1955-February 19, 1955.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, October 21, 1955-November 4, 1955.
Public Education Association, New York, "Picasso: An American Tribute", April 25, 1962-May 12, 1962, no. 33.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection", circulated to The Greensboro Public Library, North Carolina, March 31, 1965-April 14, 1965.
William Rubin and Dominique Bozo, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Picasso: A Retrospective", May 22, 1980-September 16, 1980.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Masterpieces from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6, 1985-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14, 1985-February 9, 1986.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse, Picasso and Impressionist Masters from the Cone Collection", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, October 2, 1991-January 19, 1992.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
William Rubin, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation", April 28, 1996-September 17, 1996.
Brain Trust Inc., Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", October 3, 1996-December 28, 1996, no. 72; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997.
The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse", March 12, 2000-July 16, 2000, no. 53; circulated to The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, August 13, 2000-November 26, 2000; The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, January 6, 2001-March 11, 2001; Royal Academy of Arts, London, June 30, 2001-September 23, 2001; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, November 3, 2001-January 6, 2002.
Williams College Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, "Making it New: The Art and Style Sara and Gerald Murphy", February 26, 1008-May 4, 2008; circulated to The Dallas Museum of Art, June 8, 2008-September 14, 2008
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 79.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Memorial Exhibition", January 13, 1950-March 5, 1950.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23, 1953-November 22, 1953.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to M. Knoedler & Company, New York, January 24, 1955-February 19, 1955.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, October 21, 1955-November 4, 1955.
Public Education Association, New York, "Picasso: An American Tribute", April 25, 1962-May 12, 1962, no. 33.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection", circulated to The Greensboro Public Library, North Carolina, March 31, 1965-April 14, 1965.
William Rubin and Dominique Bozo, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Picasso: A Retrospective", May 22, 1980-September 16, 1980.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Masterpieces from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6, 1985-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14, 1985-February 9, 1986.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse, Picasso and Impressionist Masters from the Cone Collection", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, October 2, 1991-January 19, 1992.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
William Rubin, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation", April 28, 1996-September 17, 1996.
Brain Trust Inc., Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", October 3, 1996-December 28, 1996, no. 72; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997.
The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse", March 12, 2000-July 16, 2000, no. 53; circulated to The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, August 13, 2000-November 26, 2000; The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, January 6, 2001-March 11, 2001; Royal Academy of Arts, London, June 30, 2001-September 23, 2001; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, November 3, 2001-January 6, 2002.
Williams College Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, "Making it New: The Art and Style Sara and Gerald Murphy", February 26, 1008-May 4, 2008; circulated to The Dallas Museum of Art, June 8, 2008-September 14, 2008
Forbes Watson, "A Note on Picasso," "The Arts," December 1923, vol. IV, no. 6, p. 332, p. 334, ill.
A. D. Emmart, "Picasso and Matisse Works Shown," "The Baltimore Sun," June 7, 1931, p. 6, ill.
"A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1941, pp. 86, 116.
"News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," December 1949, vol. XIII, no. 3, cover page, ill.
"Baltimore Inherits the Cone Collection of Modern Art," "The Art Digest," October 1, 1949, vol. 24, no. 1, p. 9, ill.
George Boas, Adelyn D. Breeskin and J.G. D'Arcy Paul, "Selections from the Cone Collection," "News of the Baltimore Museum of Art," October 1949, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 21.
"Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta, Collectors," "Art News," vol. XLVIII, no. 9, January 1950, p. 38, ill.
Gertrude Rosenthal, "Cone Memorial Exhibition," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," January-February, 1950, vol. XIII, nos. 4, 5, p. 14.
Clive Bell, "Modern French Painting: The Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1951, pp. 8-9, p. 8, ill.
Christian Zervos, "Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1920 à 1922, vol. IV," Paris: Éditions Cahiers d'Art, 1951, no. 371, ill. (Published as "Mère et Enfant")
Maurice Raynal, "Picasso," Geneva: Skira, 1953, pp. 74, 76, 131, p. 76, ill.
"Art," "Gardens, Houses and People," December 1954, vol. XXIX, no. 12, p. 30, ill.
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Cone Collection: A Handbook with a Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, pp. 18, 38, no. 97, ill.
Gertrude Rosenthal, "A Picture Book: 200 Objects in the Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, p. 64, ill.
"News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," February 1957, inside cover, ill.
"The Cone Wing," "News of the Baltimore Museum of Art," March 1957, p. title page, ill. title page.
Leslie Judd Portner, "Baltimore Museum Opens New Cone Wing," "The Christian Science Monitor," March 23, 1957, p. 10.
Leslie Judd Portner, "Worthy Home for Cone Collection," "The Washington Post and Times Herald," August 25, 1957, p. E7.
Adelyn D. Breeskin, "The Benesch Collection of Drawings," "BMA Quarterly," vol. XXIV, no. 3, Spring, 1961, p. 13.
Barbara Pollack, "The Collectors: Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone," Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1962, pp. 177, 211, ill. p. 174.
John Richardson, ed. "Picasso: An American Tribute," New York: Public Education Association, 1962, no. 33, ill.
Armand Pecaut, Pierre Henry and Henri Devain, "Les Belles Annees: Livre de Lecture a l'Usage du Degre Superior de l'Ecole Primiere," Berne: Librairie de l'Etat, 1964, p. 392, ill.
"Loans to Other Institutions September 1964 through March 1965," "News of the Baltimore Museum of Art," 1967, vol. 28, nos. 2, 3 and 4, p. 24.
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, pp. 33, 68, no. 92, ill.
The Museum of Modern Art, "Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1970, p. 84.
William Rubin, ed., "Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1980, pp. 223, 236, p. 236, ill.
Israel Rosen, "The Cone Sisters: Myths, Realities and Some Conjectures," "Helicon Nine, the Journal of Women's Arts and Letters," Winter 1983, no. 9, p. 85.
Michael McTear, "Children's Conversation," New York: Basil Blackwell, Inc., 1985, back flap, cover page, ill.
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 36, 109, 192, 193, 202, pp. 36, 192, ill.
Martin Kunz, "Von Matisse bis Picasso: Hommage an Siegfried Rosengart," Luzern: Kunstmuseum, 1988, pp. 22, 170, 198-199, no. 64, ill. (Published as "Mère et enfant")
Rosalind Ragans, "SRA Art Connections, Level 3," Columbus, OH: SRA McGraw-Hill, 1988, p. 14, ill.
Alicia Faxon, "The Shock of Recognition," "Art New England," December 1991/January 1992, p. 13.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art," "MFA Today," November/December 1993, p. 3
Susan Chadwick, "An Eye for Art," "The Houston Post," November 21, 1993, p. 16.
Susan Chadwick, "MFA Makes Room for Baltimore Art Treasures," "The Houston Post," June 2, 1993, p. D1.
Patricia C. Johnson, "MFA to Exhibit Cone Collection," "The Houston Chronicle," June 2, 1993, Section D.
Patricia C. Johnson, "Two Sisters and Their Art," "The Houston Chronicle," November 21, 1993, p. 8.
Carol Vogel, "The Art Market," "The New York Times," June 4, 1993, n.p.
Judi Freeman, "Picasso and the Weeping Women: The Years of Marie-Thérèse Walter & Dora Maar," Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994, pp. 132-133, fig. 90, ill.
William Rubin, "The Pipes of Pan: Picasso's Aborted Love Song to Sara Murphy," "Art News," May 1994, pp. 141-142, fig. 9, ill.
Property from The Honorable Pamela Harriman, Christie's, New York, Sale Harriman-8164, May 11, 1995, lot number 124, p. 71, fig. 3, ill.
Matthew Armstrong, "Pablo Picasso Mère et enfant," "Christie's International Magazine," May/June 1995, vol. XII, no. 3, p. 42.
Bennard B. Perlman, "Treasures Worth Waiting in Line to see," "The Baltimore Sun," July 9, 1996, p. 11A, ill.
William Rubin, ed. "Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation," New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996, pp. 51, 319, 493, pp. 51, 319, ill.
Nobuyuki Senzoku and Akira Tomita, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art," Tokyo: Brain Trust Inc., 1996, pp. 138-139, 161, no. 72, ill.
Antoine Terrasse, "Picasso et le Visage," "L'Objet d'Art," December 1996, no. 308, n.p., ill.
E.D. Hirsch, Jr., "What Your Second Grader Needs to Know, Revised Edition," New York: Dell, 1999, p. 186, ill.
Sona K. Johnston and William R. Johnston, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse," London: Scala Publishers, 2000, pp. front flap, 32, 144-145, 156, no. 53, ill.
Charles Darwent, "Double Vision," "The Independent," June 17, 2001, p. 21.
Jay Fisher, "Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone: A Collection of Modern Art for Baltimore," in Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, ed., "Before Peggy Guggenheim: American Woman Art Collectors," Venice: Marsilio, 2001, p. 124.
Patrick Fourneret, Lauro Capdevila, Patrick Lissorgues, Jane Peraud, "Continentes Espagnol Terminales," Paris: Les Editions, Didier, 2001, illus. p. 64.
John Richardson, "A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932," New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007, pp. 214-215, 572, p. 214, ill.
Deborah Rothschild and Calvin Tomkins, eds., "Making it New: The Art and Style of Sara & Gerald Murphy," Williamstown, MA: The Williams College Museum of Art, 2007, pp. 53, 234, p. 53, ill.
Ellen B. Hirschland and Nancy Hirschland Ramage, "The Cone Sisters of Baltimore: Collecting at Full Tilt," Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2008, pp. 147, 173-175, 261, 278, fig. 7.17, ill.
Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen L. Macknik, "Art at Visual Research: Kinetic Illusions on Op Art," "Scientific American Mind," Summer 2010, vol. 20, no. 1, n.p., ill.
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 24, 75, fig. 14, ill.
Elliott, Kelley. "A Brief History of Gemmaux." Corning Museum of Glass, October 2012. https://www.cmog.org/article/gemmaux
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Celebrating a Museum. Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014.
Inscribed: Recto: Top right canvas in brown paint, "Picasso/22" Verso: The painting has been strip lined and there are no visible inscriptions on the verso.
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