The most famous version of the mother and child trope, that of the Madonna and child, has been the most common and prevalent image within Christian art. Devotional pictures of Mary and her son are central icons within the Orthodox and Catholic church. After Mary was declared the God-bearer at the Council of Ephesus in 431, many more people began to worship Mary as well as Jesus, in a practice known as the cult of Mary. Since then, renderings of Mary in a state of motherhood have been almost constantly produced, though in various guises and with differing theological messages determined by the period. The ubiquity of such imagery and its dominance within Christian iconography (even more so than crucifixion images) may perhaps serve as a testament to the psychological power of images of maternity in general.
Even in the twentieth century, when women were carving out new places for themselves in the world and society was looking to break the mould that history had left them, many artists returned to ideas of motherhood. Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, for example, two of modern British sculpture’s most famous figures, produced likenesses of mother and child time and again. No matter the potency of new ideas or the advanced function of updated machinery, the power of birth and new life maintained a fresh appeal.
These artists returned to this idea of mother and child, too. Two of the pieces are sculptures, and these mothers’ tangible form mirrors the physicality of the experience of pregnancy and the act of birth. Although similar in content, each work differs slightly, just as each mother’s experience does too.
Dora Holzhandler, Mother and Child in Holland Park, 1997
In this image, Holzhandler adapts the mother and child trope made famous by many Christian artists. Like in devotional images, the composition is very staged and all elements point towards the central figures. Here, the path frames the mother and her child from below, whilst the trees curve round to frame her from above. The sun shines directly above the centre of the mother’s face, drawing the eye towards the largest figure of the composition. Unlike in most Christian art, the son wears a Jewish head covering, a kippah, and the mother is also accompanying another child, a daughter who stands by her mother’s feet.
About the Artist
Dora (b.1928) is a French-British artist who paints in a naive style. She moved between London and Paris as a child and young adult, returning to London permanently after finishing her studies at the Sorbonne. Artistically, she is self-taught. Her paintings often explore explicitly Jewish subject matter and cites her main influences as Chagall, Rousseau, Matisse and Dufy.
Erna Nonnenmacher, Maternity
This plaster sculpture depicts the artist’s reactions to the miracle of motherhood. To emphasise the bond between mother and child, the two are shown during pregnancy, when they are inextricably bound. The sculpture is a whole plaster cast and has no breaks in it. The sculpture’s shape is curved so that all lines lead the viewer’s eye to the swelling belly. The waved pattern of the mother’s skirt creates a downward motion, softly echoing the direction the baby will soon take.
About the Artist
Erna (1889 - 1988) was born in Germany, but moved to Britain in the late 1930s. Along with other fleeing Jews, she was briefly placed in an internment camp as an ‘enemy alien.’ After her release, she moved to London and established her reputation as a sculptor and well-loved art teacher.
Nina Grey, Woman and Child
Although Grey escaped Nazi-occupied territories just before WWII broke out, she seems to have been extremely affected by the legacy of the Holocaust, contributing richly to the field of ‘Holocaust Art.’ Perhaps this is why this mother expresses a protective melancholy as she looks down at her closely-held baby.
About the Artist
Nina Grey (1907-) was born in Lvov, Poland but moved to Vienna with her family when she was a child. Grey married and became a teacher. In 1939, she moved with her family to England, studying sculpture at the Hornsey School of Art and Central St. Martin’s.