Maternity, large plate
c. 1912
Medium
Lithograph from two stones in black and gray on gray chine
Dimensions
Image: 50.7 × 48.7 cm (20 × 19 3/16 in.); Sheet: 68.5 × 51.2 cm (27 × 20 3/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
82000
Art Historical Context
In the twilight of his career, Pierre-Auguste Ren, the celebrated French Impressionist, created *Maternity, large plate* around 1912. By this time, the artist—plagued by rheumatoid arthritis—had shifted from vibrant oils to printmaking, producing a series of tender lithographs celebrating motherhood. This work captures his enduring fascination with the female form and familial bonds, echoing themes from his earlier masterpieces like *The Boating Party* but rendered in a more monumental, classical style influenced by Renaissance masters such as Rubens. Printed from two stones in black and gray...
About the Artist
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1841–1919
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was a founding figure of Impressionism whose luminous depictions of Parisian leisure, sensuous female forms, and sun-dappled landscapes made him one of the most beloved painters in Western art history. Born in Limoges to a working-class family, Renoir began as a porcelain painter before pursuing fine arts, and this early craft experience gave him facility with the...