Mother and Child

Gertrude Käsebier (American, 1852–1934)
Maternity, 1897
Gumprint, 11 3/4 x 8 7/16 in. (29.8 x 21.4 cm)
University of Yale Art Gallery

Gertrude Käsebier, along with her fellow Pictorialist photographers, was engaged with establishing photography as an art form equal to drawing and painting. She often used gum Arabic in lieu of more conventional photographic emulsions and these works more closely resemble charcoal studies than photographic prints.

As a professional photographer, Käsebier would continue to be drawn to the subject of mother and child, as in this photograph of 1897, which she also exhibited under the titles "Adoration" and "The Vision."