On May 11, 2026, the French postal service, La Poste, issued a booklet of 12 postage stamps on the theme "Motherhood in Art," as motherhood has inspired numerous artists from all eras and artistic movements.
For a long time, in Western painting, motherhood was rooted in a tradition shaped by Christian culture. Represented predominantly by men, it often took on the idealized features of the Virgin and Child, figures of devotion and purity, and later those of royal mothers, subject to the imperatives of fertility to ensure dynastic continuity.
From the late 19th century onward, perspectives evolved. Claude Monet introduced motherhood into everyday life, far removed from the sacred, while Fernand Léger and Wassily Kandinsky offered stylized or symbolic interpretations. A decisive turning point occurred when female artists took up the subject. Around 1890, Mary Cassatt devoted a major part of her work to women caring for children. At the beginning of the 20th century, Paula Modersohn-Becker broke a taboo by depicting pregnancy and the rounded belly in semi-nude. Later, Alice Neel, in turn, painted numerous pregnant women and mothers, showing the transformations of the body without idealization. To mark Mother's Day, this stamp booklet invites you to explore twelve works that showcase motherhood in all its diversity.
