Baby on Mother's Arm

An unfinished canvas depicting a mother and baby, the faces of the figures are in a state of near-completion, with the rest of the image rendered as a quick, energetic outline. "Baby on Mother's Arms," appears to be related to another unfinished Cassatt canvas also ca. 1891, "Bathing the Young Heir," which portrays sitters likely to be the same woman and infant. 1891 was a significant year for Cassatt, in which she was busy preparing for her first one-person show, and working on a portfolio of ten color prints. The canvas is signed at lower left "to Adolph Borie/Mary Cassatt." Adolphe Borie (1877-1934), a Pennsylvania Academy alum, was a prominent artist and teacher in Philadelphia, connected with a circle of early modernists in the city. The Academy owns several works by Borie.