Strength, courage, and wisdom: Honoring representations of mothers in the collection

In art, depictions of mothers can take many forms. Varying by culture, images of mothers shown in art can symbolize strength, sacrifice, love, wisdom, and protection. The works below showcase the emotional experience of labor, the intimate act of breastfeeding, and the all-encompassing and lifelong duty of motherhood. 

In honor of Mother’s Day, a selection of works featuring mothers and mother figures is spotlighted below.

The Mother

This work, painted by Pablo Picasso when he was just 20 years old, features a mother who grasps her toddler by the hand as she holds her infant high against her shoulder. The woman stands resolute on the outskirts of a town or city, looking upon her surroundings with a determined gaze. The blue-gray tone of her skin is a precursor to Picasso’s Blue Period, during which time he depicted several downtrodden members of urban society in a palette of cool colors. 

This work is on view in Gallery 213.

A Young Mother

Although there is a convincing sense of the female body in this sculpture, the abundant fabric serves to soften the form emotionally. The mother’s facial features are simplified, but her tender gaze upon her child conveys the intimacy of their relationship. Bessie Potter Vonnoh was well known for her small bronze sculptures of everyday subjects. 

This work is on view in the Anheuser-Busch Foundation Gallery 335.

Father & Mother—Tintype

Using the standard full-frontal format used by portrait photographers at the time, Walter Ellison depicts his parents as dignified middle-class citizens, tastefully dressed in their Sunday best. By exposing the neighborhood scene behind the curtained backdrop and apartment wall, the artist provides a view of the community in which his family lived. As a member of Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center, Ellison helped carry out the mandate of the Works Progress Administration: to represent the spectrum of African American life as an instrumental part of the national story. 

This work is on view in Gallery 333.

Migrant Mother, Nipomo, CA

This photograph, taken in 1936 in the central valley of California, became a symbol of the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression (1929–1939). The image taps into both the anguish and perseverance of a mother trying to care for her children in a time of economic, social, and ecological crisis. Navigating between the artistic and the journalistic, Dorothea Lange excelled at distilling complex situations into powerful and empathetic black-and-white images with the hopes of motivating social and economic reform. Lange ran a successful portrait studio in San Francisco beginning in 1919. With the onset of the Great Depression, she was moved to photograph people that she saw standing in breadlines due to the dire conditions they faced. These works led her to a job with the federal Farm Security Administration, and she crisscrossed the western and midwestern United States by automobile to record the struggles of those most affected by the Depression. 

To view this work, schedule an appointment in the Museum’s Print Study Room.

Figure of a Mother and Child

A quintessential representation of maternity, this figure, with her elegantly plaited hairstyle, is poised and grounded while feeding her child. The cascading triangular forms along the front and profile emphasize the sculpture’s dedication to Shango, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. Chevrons, zigzags, and the double-celt form of the figure’s seat are additional emblems of the god. 

The sculpture was likely placed on an altar in either appeal or gratitude to Shango for a child. A deified historical king from roughly the 14th century, Shango is credited as the giver of children and the patron of twins. A devotee would have repeatedly applied indigo to the figure’s head as an offering to cool Shango’s fiery personality. Blue is a color the Yoruba associate with coolness, calmness, and self-control. 

This work is on view in Gallery 117.

Coretta Scott King and daughter Bernice at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Coretta Scott King’s sorrowful expression immediately commands the viewer’s attention in this photograph taken by Moneta Sleet Jr. at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Veiled and clothed modestly in black, Scott King evokes dignity and sadness which Sleet sensitively shares with viewers. The powerful emotion of the photograph resonated with many Americans who mourned along with the King family. Sleet also emphasizes the Kings’ daughter Bernice who wears a white dress, a contrast to the black clothing of the other mourners. The vulnerable grief of the mother and daughter allows the viewer to empathize with the loss of King as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement as well as a father and husband.  

In 1969, Sleet became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for this photo. The Saint Louis Art Museum is honored to have a major holding of Sleet photographs in its collection. 

To view this work, schedule an appointment in the Museum’s Print Study Room.

Interior and Exterior

“This picture is of a mother and child in the interior of a house. It is a cubist conception where the mother’s activities with her child are portrayed simultaneously,” artist William Zorach wrote of Interior and Exterior. “You are looking at life in various forms combined with the exterior and interior of a city close at hand. It is a mystical interpretation of the life.” The compression of the mother’s various roles is created by reducing her body and activities into fragmented planes. This compositional process was originated by Cubist artists, whose works Zorach encountered during his study in Europe. 

This work is on view in Gallery 333.

Modern Madonna

In this sculpture John Storrs explores the traditional subject of the Madonna and child. Likely inspired by the birth of his only child in 1918, Storrs reworked his design for a medal honoring French widows and orphans of World War I into this freestanding sculpture. Influenced by Cubism, Storrs abstracted this familiar subject into a series of fragmented geometric planes, most evident in the chiseled fall of the Madonna’s robes and in the angular presentation of the figures. The solidity and strength of form, in addition to its tapering verticality, give the figure an architectonic quality. Its reference to skyscrapers is not surprising for Storrs. Though he spent much of his career in France, Storrs grew up in Chicago under the influence of the city’s towering skyline. He also designed the 31-foot-tall sculpture of Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain, which sits atop the Chicago Board of Trade Building. 

This work is on view in the Marsha and Bill Rusnack Gallery 339.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

A kettle whistles on a glowing stove as two children eagerly await their breakfast in this warm family scene. The lively everyday narrative is balanced by the geometric simplicity of the door, curtained window, cupboard, and flat patterns of the apron and rugs. Horace Pippin was a self-taught African American artist who began painting after he was wounded in World War I. His laborious painting process involved propping up his permanently injured right arm with a poker and guiding it with his left hand. Sunday Morning Breakfast is a scene remembered from his youth in Goshen, New York. 

This work is on view in Gallery 333.

Sleeping Woman with Child

With incredible economy of line, Käthe Kollwitz depicted an intimate scene of a mother resting with her baby. It is a rare moment of peace among her subjects, most of which center on war’s devastating impact on women and children. The artist’s youngest son was killed in World War I at age 18. This knowledge adds a layer of intensity to the image as a personal memory of loss. 

To view this work, schedule an appointment in the Museum’s Print Study Room.