Framed The Child’s Bath by Mary Cassatt

The Child’s Bath by Mary Cassatt is one of her most celebrated works, showcasing her Impressionist sensitivity to everyday intimacy and her focus on the lives of women and children. The painting depicts a tender domestic scene: a mother gently bathing her child, who sits on her lap with one small foot lifted as the woman carefully washes it. Cassatt uses a high vantage point, patterned textiles, and flattened forms influenced by Japanese prints to emphasize decorative harmony and compositional balance. At the same time, the careful attention to gesture—the child’s trust, the mother’s steady hand—captures the universality of maternal care. The work reflects Cassatt’s broader aim of elevating the ordinary, private moments of women’s lives to the realm of fine art.