Kiss Mama

Description: Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.; These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.; This colored print is of a mother and two young children in a sylvan setting. The mother is seated with the younger child sleeping with its head on the mother’s lap. Another child kisses the mother from behind. All are in simple dress; the mother wears a wide lace collar and large sleeves.
Location: Currently not on view

Physical Description: paper (overall material); ink (overall material)
Measurements: image: 10 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in; 26.67 cm x 21.59 cm; overall: 14 in x 18 in; 35.56 cm x 45.72 cm

See more items in: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life; Clothing & Accessories; Domestic Furnishings; Art; Peters Prints

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