Mary Cassatt was a highly successful American Impressionist artist, whose usual subject was women, especially mothers and children. Born to an upper-middle class family, her privileged childhood included extensive travel and a sophisticated education. Still, it was a time that discouraged independence and careerism in women, especially in the arts. Mary Cassatt moved to France and, although she was not allowed entry to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts due to her gender, she studied with their masters and also self taught by copying the great works in the museums. Highly influenced by Edgar Degas, she became associated with the Impressionistic Movement, although in later years she moved away from any labels. She spent most of her life in France, being awarded the Legion d’honeur in 1904, and having had much of her work exhibited in the prestigious Paris Salon. Mary Cassatt made the decision early on not to marry and become a mother, knowing that she could not thus carry on her life’s work. Ironically, it is for those very tender depictions of mothers and children that she is best known today.
