Mary Cassatt, although born in the United States the daughter of an affluent Pittsburgh businessman, settled in Paris in 1874 after studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and travelling extensively throughout Europe. In that same year she had a work accepted at the Paris Salon and in 1877 made the acquaintance of Degas, with whom she was to be on close terms throughout his life. Both Degas’ art and ideas had a considerable influence on her own work. He introduced her to the Impressionists and invited her to participate in their exhibitions, which she did in 1879, 1880, 1881 and 1886.

Cassatt was a great supporter of the Impressionist movement as a whole, both by providing financial help and by promoting the works of her fellow artists in the United States. Her own works, when exhibited in both the United States and Europe, were received favorably by art critics and contributed to the acceptance of Impressionism.

From her association with both Degas and the other Impressionists, she acquired an interest in the pictoral qualities of everyday life, leaning towards the domestic and the intimate rather than the social and the urban , with a special emphasis on the mother and child theme.

By the 1890’s her paintings were becoming bolder and more defined and she was exhibiting regularly on both sides of the Atlantic. Cassatt was also given the distinction of being awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1904.

Mary Cassatt continued to pursue her career as an artist and painted regularly despite the bitterness that clouded her latter days, including the loss of her close family members one by one, the death of her closest friend Degas who died in the middle of World War One, and the eventual loss of her own eyesight. She was no longer able to paint after 1914 and spent the last twelve years of her life in virtual isolation.