Despite her American birth, Mary Cassatt is widely seen as a seminal
   figure in French Impressionism, though her contribution to the spread of
   Impressionism in American art circles cannot be underestimated. At the
   1937 exhibition, "Leaders of American Impressionism", John I. H. Baur, a
   leading art scholar, declared that Mary Cassatt and Childe Hassam were
   "pioneer Impressionists" who had "contributed most to the inauguration and
   development of Impressionism in America ".

   Mary Cassatt was born May 22, 1844 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania . The
   Cassatts were both socially and financially prominent as well as
   peripatetic, moving frequently (though always in the best circles), which
   included living in Europe for 4 years during Mary's childhood. In 1855,
   they returned to Philadelphia and, a few years later, just before her 16th
   birthday, Mary, determined to become a professional artist, enrolled in
   the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1865, she
   convinced her reluctant father to allow her to go to Paris to continue her
   training. Women were refused admission to the prestigious Ecole des Beaux
   Arts, so Mary obtained lessons from the most sought-after artist/teacher
   in Paris, Jean-Leon Gerome. Gerome grounded Cassatt in the academic style,
   which favored detailed draftsmanship and historical or genre paintings.
   Cassatt quickly mastered it and first had a painting accepted by the
   Salon, the official juried exhibition of the French art establishment, in
   1868, a feat she repeated every year the Salon was held through 1876. Over
   that period, she briefly returned to America during the Franco-Prussian
   War in 1870-71, but in 1875 settled in France for the rest of her life.

   As Cassatt continued to experiment, she became frustrated with the
   restrictions of the academic formula. In 1877, a mutual friend introduced
   her to Edgar Degas, each artist having expressed admiration of the other's
   work. Degas invited Cassatt to participate in the next Impressionist
   exhibition. Thereafter, she became a part of their group, both socially
   and artistically. In the early days, critics tended to see her as Degas's
   protege and imitator; however, though they were close friends and artistic
   colleagues, their styles and subject matter differed significantly, a fact
   that became more apparent as each continued to develop in his/her own
   unique direction. Cassatt became best-known for her paintings of mothers
   and children as well as becoming one of the finest printmakers of her
   time. Her work was characterized by fine draftsmanship, a vivid palette,
   and a lack of sentimentality. In addition, her efforts in the area of
   collecting were responsible for the large body of significant
   Impressionist paintings that found their way to America , particularly in
   the Havemeyer collection, most of which was personally selected by
   Cassatt.

   Unfortunately, in her later years, Cassatt's eyesight faded significantly
   despite several corrective operations and she was unable to paint for the
   last decade of her life. Never married, she retired to her French country
   estate at Beaufresne where she died on June 14, 1926, ending a celebrated
   career as both a great artist and a feminist icon.

   Everl Adair, Director of Research and Rare Collections