New York, from “Master Prints Volume I”

Description

These two images by Elliott Erwitt depict different aspects of motherhood. The top image shows fatigue and even isolation as the mother, reclining on the bed, takes a break from feeding her baby to stretch. In the bottom image depicting the same figures, the intimate bonding of mother and child are perfectly captured in the exchanged glances, the mother’s and cat’s bodies forming a protective parenthesis around the vulnerable child. This touching image was included in the exhibition The Family of Man, organized in 1955 for the Museum of Modern Art in New York by Edward Steichen.
Carole McNamara, Assistant Director for Collections & Exhibitions
on the occasion of the exhibition New York Observed: The Mythology of the City
(July 13 – September 22, 2003)