Original color aquatint on wove paper with full margins. Hand-signed in pencil lower right.

Image: 9 1/4" x 7 3/4", sheet: 17 1/4" x 12 1/8"

Charles Maurin studied art in Paris at the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts after winning the prestigious Prix Crozatier scholarship in 1875. He later became a teacher at the Academie Julian where his pupils included the famous French artists Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and F. Vallotton. He joined the Salon des Artistes Français and won several prizes while a member of this organization. Maurin's tender portrait entitled "Mère et Enfant" is believed by scholars to depict his mistress, Eugenie, who could not have a child by the artist. The print is executed with a softness of line that makes the woman and child seem as if they appeared to the artist in a dream: a bittersweet fantasy of what could not be.