Mary Cassatt was the only American to exhibit with the French Impressionists. She lived most of her life as an expatriate, committed to a career as an artists, despite social restrictions, parental disapproval and indifference from the critics.
Born in Pennsylvania her family lived in France for four years and she saw the Universal Exposition of 1855 which featured both Ingres and Delacroix. Her art studies began at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and in 1866 she went to Paris but was unable to enroll in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts because she was a woman. She was influenced by the art of Courbet and Manet, and late in 1871 studied engraving at the Parma Academy in Italy. After settling in Paris she submitted pictures to the yearly Salons until 1877 when Degas asked her to exhibit with the Societe Anonyme, labeled the impressionists. Her works were purchased principally by Mr and Mrs H.O. Havemeyer who became major collectors of the French impressionists.