Motherhood in art from past centuries to the present day

This year we celebrate Mother's Day on 14 May and I take this opportunity to wish mine, who besides being, with all her strengths and faults, a great mother, also has a birthday, so a double celebration for her.

On Mother's Day, Il Mio Salotto pays tribute to all mothers around the world by publishing works of art, some very famous, but also several murals scattered throughout Italy and abroad, celebrating this fundamental figure and her relationship with her children.

We begin with three works depicting sweet expectation

The first image, unmistakably the style of Gustav Klimt and his work 'Hope I', which later followed 'Hope II' created in 1903 and 1907 respectively, give two completely different visions of impending motherhood. The first arouses a sense of unease in the observer. The image does not express gentleness, but appears pervaded by a sense of astonishment, perhaps almost of spite at what is happening, and in any case of great disquiet, denounced by the irregularity of the body, posture and gaze.

In the second, Hope II, the perception of motherhood is completely opposite to the previous one, and Klimt demonstrates this with the format of the painting, square rather than vertical, the colours and the way of representing the model (who, moreover, was the same, one of the painter's favourites), and also the gold dotted background, which cancels the perception of real physical space by placing the figure in a sort of "cosmic" setting that will also be used in the famous Kiss.

The third image is by one of our writers and artist Mercedita 'MaDittz' Centeno-De Jesus from Bologna.

We continue with a series of works depicting the connection, the oldest bond between mother and child that is created at the beginning of this relationship, breastfeeding.

Starting with the first image on the left, we have Mary Stevenson Cassatt with the work 'Louise breastfeeding her baby'.

This is followed by Tamara de Lempicka with 'Maternity' from 1928. Notice also the look and style of the mother, different from other women from previous centuries.

As third image we have Pierre Auguste Renoir with 'A Woman Breastfeeding a Child'.

Fourth image: Adolfo Tommasi and his 'Maternity'.

Last but not least, we have our beloved Picasso, about whom we have already written in a previous article: "The Two Faces of Pablo Picasso: Extraordinary Genius or Misogynistic Narcissist" with his 1905 'Maternity' in the pink period. Picasso actually created at least a dozen images inspired by and dedicated to motherhood and the special relationship between mother and child. This Motherhood is among his most significant works from the Pink Period (preceded by his Blue Period)

We continue with another series of works by other great artists

The first image is by the artist William Adolphe Bouguereau entitled 'Alma Parens' of 1883.The French painter brings together in this work all the religious and political suggestions of the time, creating a proud and strong mother figure, who in reality represents the Homeland, surrounded by many children who symbolise the 'citizens' seeking refuge and safety.

The second image, 'Man at the Sea' by Vincent Van Gogh, depicts a woman cradling a sleeping child by the fire, absorbed in her concerns for her sailor husband.

In the third one, we have 'Self-portrait with Daughter Julie' by Elisabeth Le Brun. A work that was called a scandal at the time (1787, 2 years before the French Revolution) because it represented a bond such as motherhood in a completely different way from all other works on motherhood seen up to that time. In classical art, in fact, the rule clearly states the canons of representation of a mother-child couple and in this canon, a smile of joyful complicity between the two is not contemplated. More absolutely, a smile showing teeth is tolerated. In art, in fact, visible teeth are linked to negative, ambiguous imagery, to a lack of control over emotions that recalls madness or ecstasy, but also to a meaning that is often ironic, with no positive connotations.

We continue with the fourth work, 'Mère et son enfant' (Mother and Child) by Tamara de Lempicka, a Polish artist famous in France, especially in Paris in the 1920s.

In the fifth, we have 'The Monet Family in the Garden at Argenteuil' painted by Édouard Manet depicting the wife of the painter Jean Claude Monet, Camille and her son Jean Monet.

In the sixth image, we have Mary Cassatt's 'Maternal Caress' from the late 19th century, depicting a simple and pure gesture like a daughter's caress to her mother.

This time, in the seventh image, portraying Camille Monet in the garden of Argenteuil is her husband, Jean Claude Monet.

Lastly, we have Klimt again with 'The Three Ages of Woman' (Childhood, Motherhood and Old Age). On the left, old age is shown by an elderly woman, who hides her face with one hand while her curly grey hair hangs down her face.

Childhood and motherhood are represented by the other two figures: a young woman with long orange hair, garlanded with flowers with a smooth white skin similar to that of the child she holds in her arms, her rosy cheeks sleeping resting on the young woman's chest. The older woman looks as if she is ready to go and yield the scene, or life, to the other two.

We conclude with some murals depicting motherhood, scattered in Italy and abroad, whose Instagram profiles of the artists we leave you with, in case you want to see more murals.

1: TENEU AND KENTIGERN. ARTIST: SMUG. LOCATION: GLASGOW, SCOTLAND (Picture Instagram @SMUGONE)

2: PREPARATO. ARTISTI: TELMOMIEL. LOCATION: RAGUSA, ITALY (Picture Instagram @TELMOMIEL)

3. SANTA CHIARA CON ACQUA BENEDETTA. Author: TVBOY. LOCATION: MILAN, ITALY (Picture Instagram @TVBOY)

4. URBAN MOTHER. ARTIST: KORVO AKA KORVUZ KORAX. LOCATION: MILAN, ITALY (Photo KORVOART.TUMBLR.COM)

5. MAMA SANA VIBRANT WOMAN. ARTIST: TOOFLY. LOCATION: AUSTIN, TEXAS, STATI UNITI (Photo TOOFLYNYC.COM)

6. DEDICADO A LA MUJER. ARTIST: TOMER LINAJE. LOCATION: LISBONA, Portugal (Picture Instagram @TOMERLINAJE)

7. EL BESO. ARTISTA: XOLAKA. LOCATION: PICASSENT, Spain (Photo Twitter @EL_XOLAKA)

....and with this roundup we wish all the mothers of the world well, thanking them for the enormous work they do every day, feeding us, raising us, supporting us and driving us crazy from time to time!