This early etching was done in 1930 by Aaron Bohrod while he was studying at the Art Students' League in New York, and had become friends with Ashcan printmaker John Sloan. In the fall of 1930 Bohrod moved back to his native Chicago, Illinois. This impression is dedicated "To the Tannenbaums", probably one of the Chicago area Tannenbaums.
"Mother and Daughter" shows the influence of Matisse's etching of the late 1920s, early 30s on the young American; flattened linear spaces, separated by line, the simple repetitive design on the daughter's dress, no shadow, etc. This "modernist" approach was used by American printmaker Milton Avery in the mid 1930s.
The composition is direct; the mother, with her hair cut short or pulled up tight and her hands folded, looks the viewer in the eye with a sense of concern, perhaps for the social problems that are on the horizon after the 1929 stock market crash. Her daughter hugs her assuredly as they both snuggle into the overstuffed armchair.