Artwork
Daria, or Maternal Terror
Daria, or Maternal Terror is an oil painting by the Biedermeier artist Pauline Auzou. It dates from 1810 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays a mother cradling her child while a tree looms nearby, a composition that evokes both tenderness and underlying dread.
The painting portrays a mother cradling her child while a tree looms nearby, a composition that evokes both tenderness and underlying dread. The tree functions as a symbol of impending fear, suggesting that maternal love is intertwined with the anxieties of the natural world. Executed in oil on canvas in 1810, the work was presented at the Salon of 1810 and again at the Salon of 1814 before entering the Horvitz Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Technique & Style
Pauline Auzou's Daria, or Maternal Terror, created in 1810, is an oil painting executed on canvas. The work measures 195 cm in height and 154.5 cm in width, classifying it as a substantial genre scene. Stylistically, the composition depicts a woman, a child, and a tree, focusing on the emotional state of fear.
The painting was first presented to the public at the Salon of 1810 and later exhibited again at the Salon of 1814.
History & Provenance
Pauline Auzou created the oil-on-canvas painting Daria, or Maternal Terror in 1810. The work was first presented to the public at the Salon of 1810 and subsequently exhibited again at the Salon of 1814. Current records indicate the painting is held within the Horvitz Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Painted in 1810, Daria, or Maternal Terror is held in the Horvitz Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. The oil on canvas work measures 195 cm in height and 154.5 cm in width.
The painting has a documented exhibition history including the Salon of 1810, where it was first shown shortly after its completion. It was exhibited again at the Salon of 1814.
Context
Pauline Auzou's 1810 painting Daria, or Maternal Terror was exhibited at the Salon of 1810 and again in 1814, situating it within the official annual exhibition of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts.
The work is held in the Horvitz Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, a noted private collection that has been featured in major exhibitions of French neoclassical art.
Scholarly analysis emphasizes the painting's psychological intensity, interpreting its depiction of a mother cradling a child amid symbolic elements such as a tree and fear as a commentary on domestic vulnerability during the post-revolutionary period.
Art historians place the piece within the broader trajectory of early 19th-century genre painting, noting its blend of neoclassical technique with emerging Romantic concerns about emotion and interiority.
Overview
Pauline Auzou’s 1810 oil painting titled Daria, or Maternal Terror presents a genre scene that captures a moment of acute distress. The work is part of the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and measures the emotional tension between a mother and her infant through composition and lighting.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
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