Rose Hartwell (1861-1917), Nursery Corner, c.1910, oil on canvas, 23 ¾ x 28 ¼ inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1941.
In celebration of Mother's Day, we present this lovely domestic scene by Rose Hartwell. A woman holds her infant, swaddled in pink, on her lap. One blanket lies unfolded on the floor and another pours out over the side of the empty cradle. These slight hints toward the untidiness typical of a child’s room, together with the teddy bear similarly discarded on the floor by the cradle, suggest that the mother has hastily retrieved the baby from its bed, probably to sooth her and rock her back to sleep. As the mother beholds her child, she focuses on that which is most important rather than obsessing over keeping things perfectly neat in this nursery. After all, the clock hanging on the wall is ticking softly, a constant reminder that moments like this are fleeting and ought to be treasured.