Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009938Destitute Mother and Child in Winter
About the Artwork
One of France's leading artists of the mid-19th century, Octave Tassaert was known for his paintings of downtrodden workers, destitute mothers, suicides, and abandoned children. Viewers responded positively to his focus on issues of social injustice, as seen in this painting of a poor mother resting outdoors in the snow with her baby. She is leaning against a pile of sticks, a common activity among the poor of gathering and selling small pieces for wood for burning in fireplaces or stoves.
Provenance
Helen and Albert Borowitz, Cleveland, Ohio
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Octave Tassaert (French, 1800–1874)
- Date
- c. 1850
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 33 x 25 cm (13 x 9 13/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz
- Accession no.
- 2013.257
More by Octave Tassaert in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009938
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