OPPapers.com

Mother And Child

Art and Visual Culture
Assignment 3: Mother and Child
3/7/06

ASSIGNMENT 3:
Mother and Child

Throughout art history, artists have used the theme of mother and child for
religious purposes, for cultural purposes, and for expressing the strong
relationship between mother and child.
You can find examples mother and child in the art of Egyptians, Greeks, and
Romans. Medieval art and art of the Reniassance often depicts Mary and the
Christ child to communicate bible stories for those that could not read.
Tribes of Africa such as the Dogon tribe, Asian art, Native American art, and
even folk art often depict a non-religious representation of the mother and
child. Many photographs taken during the Great Depression or during
wartime show the anguish, poverty, and yet the bonds between the mother
and child.
The mother and child theme can be found in EVERY culture and in EVERY
society througout human history.
For this assignment, you are to find TWO examples of mother and child in
art...paintings, drawings, sculpture, photographs...from two diffferent time
period and two different culture. Then compare and contrast the art in your
essay.

PART 1
Present and explain each of the art pieces you chose. Discuss the social,
cultural, or religious purpose for each piece you chose.
PART 2
Identify the design principles evident in each piece. Also describe the visual
cues for each piece you chose, explaining how visual cues conveys the
feeling and relationship between the mother and child. Which piece conveys
the strongest message? Why?
PART 3
How have the artists (or the people/person who made the art) used the
mother and child relationship in each work to express feelings and emotions
and to tell a story? What story do they each tell? (You can download the
images to include with your essay.)
Check the COURSE GUIDE for the DUE DATE!



Mary Cassatt
American, 1844 - 1926
Mother and Child, c. 1905
oil on...