The artwork entitled “Mother combing Sara’s hair” is a genre painting created by the artist Mary Cassatt around 1901, utilizing pastel on paper as the medium. This piece is representative of the Impressionist movement, characterized by its vibrant brushwork and emphasis on the accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities. The artwork is currently held in a private collection.
This pastel work captures an intimate domestic scene of a mother attentively combing the hair of her daughter, Sara. The composition focuses on the tenderness and care of the mother’s gesture as she grooms the child, who appears compliant and at ease under her mother’s touch. Cassatt’s use of pastels creates soft textures and a delicate interplay of colors that convey the warmth and serenity of the moment. The background is sketchily rendered, drawing the viewer’s eyes primarily to the figures and the affectionate interaction between them. As is common in Cassatt’s work, the subject matter celebrates the everyday life of women and children, rendered with an impressionistic sensibility that highlights both the emotional connection of the subjects and the artist’s mastery of the medium.
