Nursing

Mary Cassatt

ca. 1890 · Drypoint; third state of three · Drawings and Prints

For nearly three quarters of the nineteenth century, upper- and middle-class Parisian families typically employed wet nurses to feed their infants. With the development of a science of child-rearing later in the century, it was increasingly advocated that mothers should nurse their own offspring. Here, the woman’s glazed expression conveys psychological distance from the child despite their physical connection.

Artist

Mary Cassatt

Date

ca. 1890

Medium

Drypoint; third state of three

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929