Cast bronze, with a golden patina, cast in two parts, 1985. Approximately 229x216x121 mm; 9x8½x4¾ inches. Incised with the artist's initials "EC", lower left backside edge.
Provenance: the collection of Gene and Joan Vass; by descent; private collection, California.
Gene Vass (1922-1996) was a noted Abstract Expressionist painter and sculptor. Joan Vass (1925-2011) was a celebrated knitwear designer and the founder of the company bearing her name.
This striking bronze sculpture is comprised of two pieces that fit together - the mother and child were cast separately. Elizabeth Catlett's image of maternity has the child sit inside the open space of the abstracted mother. Catlett made several versions of this popular subject in different material - including black marble, mahogany and orange onyx.
