Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum February 15, 2003 to September 12, 2004 Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Art Museum logo
A Word from P&G - Overview of Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Painters and the Big Picture - discusses how Cincinnati Artists fit into a larger art historical perspective The Works from The P&G Collection - themed galleries of the works in the show Index by Artist Name - a list of all the artists represented in the show and the works they completed Go back to the Cincinnati Art Museum Home page
Elizabeth Nourse (1859–1938)
La mère (The Mother), 1888
oil on canvas
45 1/2 x 32 in.

Born in Mt. Healthy, Nourse received her artistic training at the McMicken School of Design (now the Art Academy of Cincinnati). Although offered an instructorship upon her graduation, Nourse declined the offer and set her sights abroad. At the age of twenty-eight, she and her sister moved permanently to Paris. Then considered the artistic capital of the world, Paris was home to the largest collection of serious artists in one place, thus competition was fierce. She entered this piece, her first large oil, into the most prestigious annual exhibition in Paris, the Salon. Not only was La mère selected, but was also placed “on the line,” or at eye-level, a tremendous honor as the walls were packed with paintings from the floor to the ceiling. After such a glowing reception at the Salon, the painting was shown across Europe and America. At one time it was owned by President Woodrow Wilson and his wife, who displayed the work in their Princeton study.