By the Pond

In Mary Cassatt's drypoint and colored aquatint print By the Pond, a  mother fondly gazes at the blond, angelic child she holds up for a better glimpse of the world from an adult's level; at the same time, she also presents the infant for the viewer's admiration. The two figures block a view of a pond stretching into the distance, bordered by smooth lawns and verdant trees. The cool tints of the background set off the pale flesh-tones and light-colored clothing of the mother and child. The summertime setting of Cassatt's image complements her theme of maternal love and pride and seems an extension of the child's blissful state.

Among the last color aquatints Cassatt made, By the Pond demonstrates the inspiration of the Italian Renaissance paintings and sculptures of the Madonna and Child that Cassatt greatly admired. By updating a traditional mother and child theme with contemporary dress and setting the figures outdoors in this sylvan landscape setting, Cassatt introduced an appealing naturalism also evident in a similar print of about the same date, Under the Horse-Chestnut Tree (TF 1987.7), which may well show the same mother and child models. In By the Pond, perhaps more than in her other color aquatints, Cassatt achieved a soft, painterly effect in the landscape, where the delicate lines of drypoint are subordinated to the broad color washes of aquatint; in contrast, the figures are more solidly modeled with a dense network of fine strokes printed in pale brown ink. The result is one of Cassatt's most monumental treatments of motherhood, an apt demonstration of her achievement in celebrating and elevating the status of domestic womanhood.

An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 28–October 1, 1988.

Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts and the Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., June 18–August 27, 1989; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, September 9–November 5, 1989; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, November 25, 1989–January 21, 1990. [exh. cat.]

Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 1–November 1, 1992; April 1–October 31, 1993; April 1–October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]

Regard sur Mary Cassatt (Mary Cassatt at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 2–October 31, 1996.

Domestic Bliss: Family Life in America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 161, pp. 66–67; ill. p. 154 (black & white).

Mathews, Nancy Mowll and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. Text p. 187; cat. 21–IV, p. 188 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 254; pl. 78, p. 258 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 254; pl. 78, p. 258 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Adelson, Warren et al. Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio. (exh. cat., Adelson Galleries, Inc.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. Text p. 108; ill. pp. 108–109 (color).

Mary Cassatt: Impressions. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005; Paris: Le Passage Paris–New York Éditions, 2005. Text p. 57 (checklist); ill. p. 72 (color).