This painting depicts a mother figure and a young child, a genre scene based on the everyday activity of bathing a small child. Cassatt was heavily influenced in her work by some of her fellow Impressionist peers, especially Degas. She also took inspiration from the prints of Japanese woodcuts exhibited at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, being drawn to the simplicity and clarity of the Japanese designs, and the skilful use of blocks of color. The work is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.Painting credit: Mary Cassatt