Born on May 22, 1844, in Allegheny City (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, Mary Cassatt lived in Europe for five years as a young girl. She was tutored privately in art in Philadelphia and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1861╨1865, but she preferred learning on her own and in 1866 traveled to Europe to study. Her first major showing was at the Paris Salon of 1872; four more annual Salon exhibitions followed.
In 1874 Cassatt chose Paris as her permanent residence and established her studio there. She shared with the Impressionists an interest in experiment and in using bright colors inspired by the out-of-doors. Edgar Degas became her friend; his style and that of Gustave Courbet inspired her own. Degas was known to admire her drawing especially, and at his request she exhibited with the Impressionists in 1879 and joined them in shows in 1880, 1881, and 1886. Although she was known to be an American artist, she was generally identified with the French group. Her depictions of mothers and children were celebrated examples of her warm, individual style, which was characterized by the combination of delicate color and strong line. The etchings she produced were compared in quality to James Whistler╒s. Equally fine were her color prints and pastels, many of which displayed the influence of Japanese art.
From 1876 Cassatt╒s works were exhibited in the United States, where they were the earliest examples seen in the Impressionist manner. She had a one woman exhibition in the Gallery of Durand-Ruel in Paris in 1891 and another and larger one in 1893. Through her influence on wealthy friends and relatives she oversaw the purchase of a great many Impressionist masterpieces for American private and public collections. Her eyesight began to fail about 1900; she ceased work by 1914 and died at Chëteau de Beaufresne, her country home in Mesnil-Theribus, north of Paris, on June 14, 1926.
