Physical Qualities
Drypoint, Sheet: 333 x 213 mm. (13 1/8 x 8 3/8 in.)
Plate: 260 x 175 mm. (10 1/4 x 6 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with Funds from the State of Maryland. Funds from Laurence and Stella Bendann, and Contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.48.512
Cassatt studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and later became an expatriate in France. In Paris, she fell in with the Impressionist circle of Manet, Degas, Renoir, Pissarro and others. Under Degas’ influence and guidance, Cassatt ventured into experiments with various printmaking techniques to hone her skills in composition and drawing. Quietude exhibits superb clarity and crispness of line expressively emphasizing the subjects’ faces. The tender and intimate relationship between mother and child
was a recurrent theme in Cassatt’s art, rendered not as an idealized subject but as a familiar, flesh-and-blood one. She often made use of family members for her models.
BMA by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art,
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
Wildenstein Gallery, New York City, NY, Oct. 1947 - Jan. 1948.
The Museum of Graphic Art, New York, "The Graphic Art of Mary Cassatt," traveled to Christian Rohlfing, The Cooper Union Museum, New York, Oct. 3 - Nov. 4, 1967; circulated to Smithsonian Institution, early Jan. - Feb. 25, 1968; The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Apr. 18 - May 12,1968; The Detroit Institute of Arts, July 16 - Aug. 18, 1968.
Susan Dackerman,The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Whistler & Cassatt: Americans Abroad," June 11-Oct. 13, 2003; circulated to The Academy of the Arts, August 10 - October 20, 2004.
James Smalls, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Henry Ossawa Tanner and the Lure of Paris," December 7, 2005 - May 28, 2005.
The Museum of Graphic Art, New York, "The Graphic Art of Mary Cassatt," traveled to Christian Rohlfing, The Cooper Union Museum, New York, Oct. 3 - Nov. 4, 1967; circulated to Smithsonian Institution, early Jan. - Feb. 25, 1968; The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Apr. 18 - May 12,1968; The Detroit Institute of Arts, July 16 - Aug. 18, 1968.
Susan Dackerman,The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Whistler & Cassatt: Americans Abroad," June 11-Oct. 13, 2003; circulated to The Academy of the Arts, August 10 - October 20, 2004.
James Smalls, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Henry Ossawa Tanner and the Lure of Paris," December 7, 2005 - May 28, 2005.
Inscribed: Signed, titled, and dedicated in pencil: lower left "Mother & Baby"; lower right "To Mr. Lucas with my best / complements / Mary Cassatt"
Markings: Artist's stamp: MC monogram (Lugt 604) Collector's stamp: verso "M.I. / LUCAS / COLLECTION" (Lugt 1695c) Watermark: Vanderley
