"The Artist's Mother" by Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884)

The Artist's Mother (Portrait de la Mère de l'Artiste)

Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884)

1877

Oil on canvas

103 x 77 cms | 40 1/2 x 30 1/4 ins

Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Chéret, Nice, France

Source: Crastre, Plate III, following p. 22

Here, the mother holds her wide-brimmed hat by its ribbons, sitting patiently and gladly for her son. François Crastre tells us she was devoted to him, delighting in his progress, and, later, accompanying him to Algeria in a futile bid to regain his health (see Crastre 41, 51, 67, and his commentary below).

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Caption by François Crastre

What a kindly and gentle face this is, the face of the woman to v/hom the artist applied the tender endearment of "Good little mother"! In this work, it is evident that the heart guided the hand of the painter. None but a son could have rendered with such emotion the humid tenderness of those eyes and the maternal caress of those lips. It is a powerful work, which enrolls Bastien-Lepage in the foremost rank of portrait painters (following p.22).

Related Material

Bibliography

Crastre, François. Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884). Frederick A. Stokes, 1914. Internet Archive. Contributed by University of California Libraries. Web. 12 March 2020.

Created 12 March 2020