This week artrepublic favourite Copyright has released a beautiful new limited edition print, Mother. This sumptuous giclee with hand finishing depicts a contemplative butterfly woman releasing delicate little butterflies from her cupped hands. It’s a characteristically romantic work from the UK street artist and a brilliant graffiti interpretation of a timeless subject.
Images of mothers have long been a staple in Western art. 4th Century grave reliefs on the island of Rhodes depicted mothers with children and in Roman times, a mother, known as ‘Caritas’ or charity, was a common personification in paintings and sculpture. Later, ‘charity’ became a quality invested in the Virgin Mary, the primary mother whose image has dominated the of art history.
The imagery of mothers was a favourite subject matter for many Impressionists, whilst Victorian artists explored the plight of those who strayed from the virtuous path of motherhood. By the early 20th Century artists such as Mary Cassatt became well known for their portraits of mothers. Mother and Child by Gustav Klimt was painted over a century before Copyright’s Mother, but both prints capture the love and tenderness of their timeless subject with decorative accomplishment.
