Best known for her sculptures of graceful female figures in gently sweeping garments, Bessie Potter Vonnoh initially trained under Lorado Taft at the Art Institute of Chicago. The 1893 World's Fair was an influential moment in the young artist's career, as the convergence of so many artists under one roof inspired her to strike out in new directions. Encouraged by Taft she went to Paris in 1895, and upon her return to the States arrived at the style and idiom that won her great acclaim. Indeed, Vonnoh is sometimes compared to Mary Cassatt, in that both artists repeatedly explored the theme of motherhood.

Vonnoh had a one-woman show at the Brooklyn Museum in 1913, and was the first woman sculptor to become a permanent member of the National Academy of Design. Her work The Young Mother was exhibited in 1976 as part of the Whitney Museum's Bicentennial sculpture show, and her life-size portrait of James Sherman is still installed in the United States Capitol Building.