Mother's Kisses

Accession Number
1993/1.115.1

Title
Mother's Kisses

Artist(s)
Dotty Attie

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1982

Medium & Support
hand-colored lithograph on paper

Dimensions
36 in x 26 1/4 in (91.5 cm x 66.7 cm);46 1/4 in x 35 1/4 in x 1 in (117.48 cm x 89.54 cm x 2.54 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Label copy
For more than twenty years Dotty Attie has adapted scenes from famous Old Master paintings, calling attention both to her sources and her reinterpretations. This lithograph culls the figures of Venus and Cupid from Bronzino's mid-16th century painting "The Exposure of Luxury." To this portrayal of incest she juxtaposes a series of details. These present fragments of their bodies, which fetishizes those anatomical parts. These details are interspersed with texts that comment ironically on this perverted mother-child relationship.

Subject matter
This lithograph shows the central figures of Venus and Cupid from Bronzino's mid-16th century painting "An Allegory with Venus and Cupid," also known as "Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time." It is the central image elaborated and referenced by the 26 smaller prints in the portfolio. By pulling these central figures, Venus and Cupid, from the original painting, Attie eliminates mythical references and symbols of Renaissance refinement and focuses in on the erotic undertones of the work. 

Physical Description
A nude woman and boy are intertwined in an embrace. She is kneeling with her right arm raised and bent, finger pointing upwards, and the boy reaches around her and fondles her breast. The woman is holding a gold sphere in her left hand and they are on a pile of textiles. 

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
American (North American)
Venus
allegory (artistic device)
ball
crouching
cupids
feminists (people)
kisses
modern and contemporary art
mothers
nudes
nudes (representations)
seated
sons (people)
texts (documents)

& Author Notes

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