Mother and child

One last sad child. Actually, the child doesn't look so sad--all the sorrow belongs to the mother. The child has a lovely expression of innocence and comfort. The painting is Mutter und Kind by Robert Noir (1864-1931), also known as Ernest Noir. I haven't seen many of his works, but most of them are supposed to be like this one: dark and grim, but very compelling. There's a lot of tenderness in it. It's an image that could only be created by someone who feels the suffering of the world very deeply. According to this bio, Noir committed suicide by hanging himself in the Bois de Boulogne. Somehow that is not surprising.

Machine of the family: dark fur, forests of the mother’s body.
Machine of the mother: white city inside her.

And before that: earth and water.
Moss between rocks, pieces of leaves and grass.

And before, cells in a great darkness.
And before that, the veiled world.

From "Mother and Child" by Louise Glück