Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now part of Pittsburgh, and began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at fifteen. In 1866 she moved to Paris, where women could not yet attend the École des Beaux-Arts, and studied privately with Jean-Léon Gérôme, then with Charles Joshua Chaplin and Thomas Couture. She lived most of her adult life in France. When her Salon entries were rejected in 1877, Edgar Degas invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists, and the two worked closely together, especially on printmaking. Her colour drypoints and aquatints of 1891, inspired by Japanese prints, are counted among her most original work. Her reputation rests on paintings and prints of mothers and children, often recalling Renaissance images of the Madonna and Child, and after 1900 she concentrated on the subject almost exclusively. She also advised American collectors and helped introduce Impressionism to them. Here: The Child's Bath.