( Mary Cassatt) was not a very famous artist compared to( Dali) or( Michelangelo )and her paintings were not very creative but never the less, she was a gifted artist who mostly portrayed the snapshots of the time and mostly( portraits )of different people.

She was criticized because for the time portraits of people were considered to many as being to realistic showing flaws instead of making the person in the portrait look flawless.

Most of her paintings show a style of art that was relatively new for the day or just particularly not recognized. Her style of painting was done with rough brush strokes and used two or three different kinds of shades lathered on in thick coats.

Mary Cassett was born in (Allegheny City )in western( Pennsylvania )close to(Pittsburg). She was born on May, twenty two eighteen forty four to an upper class family short before the (Civil War) were North and South would turn on eachother.

Her father’s name was (Robert Cassatt) who worked as a stock broker. Her mother’s name was (Katherine Kelso Johnston) who’s family were bankers.

Cassatt had many siblings. There would be seven but two died during early infancy.

The era she lived in was called the( Victorian era) when( Queen Victoria )was the monarch of( England )but had influence over much of the west and (Europe) The only place that this didn’t apply was (Paris), France witch was more progressive and expressive. Paris would attract many famous artists such as Salvador Dali and (Picasso)who would get their start there.

The Victorian way was modesty to the extreme. This was directed mostly towards women who were downgraded to treated more like objects than women. Women were most lady like when they were seen and not heard. Unless they were making conversation with other women, they were supposed to stay quietly by his side and not give any opinions at all. If a women had( sex )outside of marriage weather before marriage or during, they were labeled a whore expelled by the community and disowned by her family. Women were not to show arousal or act like they liked sex even alone with their husbands.

This was the era of big (plantations) worked mostly by (black servants) who were more or less paid slaves. These servants were forced to work long hours performing back breaking work for room and board or a small amount of money. This was not even the south were the morel question was never raised to keep( slaves ) or free them. This was the North were people had questions on weather it was right to keep them working or not but the big picture was a loop hole, mainly keep the slaves witch had no were to go give them money for their work and call them servants. This was also a era of intricately laced woven dresses were the upper class women hosted elegant and well staged dinner parties were the daughter of the elite would chose her future husband.

This was the atmosphere that Mary Cassatt grew up in. In her early childhood , her family moved to (Lancaster)( Pennsylvania) and then to the suburbs of( Philadelphia ) were Cassatt began school.

Cassatt grew up in a family that believed that experience with different cultures was like a teaching tool. Her family traveled quite a bit and could do this because they were a very wealthy family.

She spent five years in( Europe) and visited different well known cities such as (London), Paris and (Berlin.) She learned German and French and her beginning lessons started there after. She loved (drawing)(, writing )and she also started to learn( painting.)

At twenty one, Cassatt was first exposed to exhibits from( Delacroix)(, Corat )and( Courbet) at the Worlds fair in Paris. It is thought that this is were she got her inspiration to paint. There were other works on display by here future mentors (Degas )and( Pissarro.)

The family eventually moved back to the( United States) and back to the Philadelphia area and Cassatt became interested in painting but her parents opposed. The thought of women being a(professional artist) was unheard of but more over a socialite with her status.

Women at that time were supposed to marry young with a well to do husband have kids and stay home not to hang out with weird dirty and low life( artists). But Mary decided at fifteen she would make art her career. So she began to study painting at (the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.) While there, she was introduced to( Feminism) and the Bohemian way of life witch would become more popular among artists in the early nineteen hundreds.

Cassatt would study art all thru the (Civil War )and virtually unaffected by it. One of the students studying at the school was Thomas Eakins witch became in later years, the director of the academy.

At the academy, females weren’t shown a nude male model, only casts witch frustrated Cassatt. She later said she learned nothing from the academy so she taught herself how to paint with different books she read and different (art museums )that she went to .

She eventually ended the lessons at the academy even though she had overcome her father’s protest’s. Tired of the confining life in the U.S, she moved to the freedom of Paris in eighteen eighty six, in hopes of redefining herself and make a brand new start she held a lot of hope that Paris would make her paintings famous so she could be self sufficient . When she arrived though it was not like the Paris she knew in her childhood, It was the same( sexism) there to but it was still a lot more understand free and open minded.

In Paris, if you were a women, you had to have a chaperone such as family or friends in the school so her father would act as one. She would not go to the Ecole des Beaux Arts because she was a women so she studied privately with the masters at the school.

She was eventually accepted to study with( Jean-Leon Gerome )a highly respected teacher of the arts known for his hyper- realistic style and depiction of the exotic. Cassatt then used her training to get a license witch gave her a superior status over the copiers who would paint copies of paintings in the(( (lovre )who managed to scrape by. Cassatt also copied the paintings to sell on the street but did not really talk to them. In eighteen eighty six, she involved herself with new painting classes taught by Charles Chaplin a well respected artist who had taken an interest in some of her art work. Thomas Couture and Cassatt began to study together. These two students would often take long rides thru the country and this would inspire Cassatt to draw inspiration for her art work. She took notice in every day things and people witch would later define her art. The country side would show her the simple every day things that a simple life would show like people working out on the farms or a mother sitting on the front porch rocking back and forth while holding her baby in her arms.

In eighteen sixty eight on of her paintings (“A mandolin Player”) was accepted and recognized for the first time by the artists in the( Paris salon). It’s style was both romantic and soft witch was the style taught to her by Couture. Paris at this time was a period of gentle social upheaval were the old traditional art fell by the wayside and new ideas enhanced the art of the day.

In eighteen seventy, Cassatt moved back to the U.S as the (Franco Prussian)war was just beginning to spark social unrest. She now entered a world opposite of the one she had been living. It was though traveling back in time. Of course by now America was starting to develop at that time no one knew that in a matter of twenty years, there would be the inventions of the (lightbulb), the( telephone )and the (horseless carrage.)

Cassatts father meanwhile was still opposed to the idea of his daughter becoming a professional artist and would pay for her basic need but would buy her nothing along the lines of art supplies. But by now her chances to be on her own were blossoming. She was able to exhibit two paintings at a( exhibition) in(New York) and was well received by many who had looked at her art. No one on the other hand liked them enough to by them.

So now this began a sad chapter in her life. For this began self doubt and everything seemed hopeless and she thought of giving up painting all together but she probably thought about the doldrums that came along with the quiet house wife doing her duties and her submissiveness to her husband and the high pitched screams of dirty children messing up the house or even the horrible pain of child birth. She might not of been thinking about how it would be to have to hold your emotions and wear a smile no matter what. After all she was an artist not a house wife.

She only wanted to be on her own and to be self sufficient and making her own life the way she wanted instead of people creating a life for her.

But all though some women did work outside the home and were accepted this was a way of life only suited for women of lower classes, not for well educated high class women. Never the less, she had a dream. A dream that one day she could make a living on her own by herself so she dedicated most of her time either studying art or creating it.

During this empty and depressing time in her life, she wrote a letter it read” I have given up my studio and tore up my father’s portriait and have not touched a paint brush in six weeks nor will I never will again until I see some prospect of getting back to Europe. I am very anxious to go out west nex fall and get some employment but I am not sure were.”

She then moved to( Chicago) for a change in venue but most of her paintings were destroyed in the (Chicago fire). But around this time, or a little while later, her luck would change. Her art work soon caught the eye of the Archbishop of( Pittsburg )who asked Cassatt to paint copies by Correggio in( Parma )(Italy )and would loan Cassatt money for the trip and help pay for her stay. This was the break she needed so in wonderful glee she accepted. She wrote another letter and it said, “Oh how wild I am to get to work my fingers farely itch and my eyes water to see a picture a fine picture again.” In the eighteen seventy two, her painting”( Two women throwing flowers during a carnival”) was well received in the salon and sold soon there after.

People were so excited with her painting, she became recognized in the world of art. All the sudden, people were finally taking her art seriously and for the first time, it seemed like her persistence paid off. People were interested in this new( female artist) that no one had heard of before and people wanted to get to know her better. After finishing the painting, she had worked on for the arch bishop, she then traveled to Madrid, Spain and Seville were she completed a few paintings on( Spanish )subjects including “(Spanish Dancer wearing a lace Mantilla.)”

In eighteen seventy three, these paintings were shown in (The National Museum of American Art.) Cassatt decided to live in France along with her sister Lydia who lived with her in an apartment.

Cassatt soon got tired of the artists salon calling them closed minded and only recognizing traditional art. She also knew the all male institution did not appreciate works by female artists as being professional refusing to show works done by women and Cassatt knew this all to well.

The only way females would get noticed was if they had a protector or friend in the salon. In eighteen seventy five , Cassatt grew angry but like she was trained to do as a women she probably said nothing at first instead holding it in. So her attitude changed and she became more assertive witch lead to an argument with a fellow colleague who said her color of her paintings were to bright and her portraits were to realistic showing flaws witch should have been covered up to make the person in the portrait look better. Sartain the person who she had been arguing with said she acted more like an angry man than a lady.

In eighteen seventy seven, Cassatt submitted two pictures to the salon but were rejected so for the first time in seven years. She would not have any artwork in the salon.

This was a very depressing time for her as I can imagine lonely heart broken tears rolled down her face and like the snow outside slowly melted into the darkest underbelly of Paris. This city had been her hope for self reliance but now, the glimmering openness that once offered so much promise, was now as dark as the rundown alleys that everybody didn’t want anyone beyond Paris to see.

But in one of her darkest hours, came the soft white light of hope once again. Edgar Degas invited her works with the( impressionists )to show her works at a series of independent exhibitions in eighteen seventy four.

The impressionists were a group of artists with different and new styles witch involved heavy strokes of paint were each stroke involved three or more different colors a solid color with each stroke witch gave their paintings more of a rough appearance.

They were also known as painting totally new subjects for the day. The impressionists also drew a lot of ney sayers. Degas made a great impression on Cassatt who noticed the pastel colors that were shown behind the window at a show.

Cassatt agreed to Degases invitation with great excitement and began preparing a few of her works for the up and coming show planned for eighteen seventy nine. In eighteen seventy seven, Cassatts parents joined her in Paris.

Her father was still not thrilled about his daughter who he thought had simply lost her way. He would not help her buy any art supplies and studio. He told her to buy them with the prophets of her paintings witch were not near enough to cover her living expenses much less( art supplies.)

The money that she did make was only enough to break even. So Cassatt kept very focused on her paintings putting more detail and soft colors to her work. These paintings during this period were,:”Portrait of the Artist” witch was a self portrait, “(Little girl in a blue arm chair )and (“Reading Le Figaro”.)

Degas had influenced many of her paintings as she became a master in( pastels) and Degas also introduce her to etching.

The impressionists made a profit from these shows but were still not accepted by many. A lot of people were not impressed with her style of art witch a lot would say they thought her art was to bright and to realistic showing wrinkles if there were wrinkles as most artists for the day touched up their portraits to make the person in the portrait look better.

Eventually, Cassatt’s work was shown in( New York City.) She also made portraits of some of her family. One of the portraits was called (“Portrait of Alexander Cassatt and his son Robert Kelso)”. After eighteen eighty six, Cassatt gave up impressionism and created styles of her own. Her reputation was based on some of these new works, the earliest works from this era was “(Gardener held by her mother)”. The eighteen eighty’s were her most productive years of her life since she toned down her sharp opinions. She also gave inspiration to other young artists and although the impressionists group had disbanded , she still had contact with such artists as( Monet)(, Renoir )and (Pissarro).

Also in eighteen eighty one, a Chicago women with great status in the city, asked Cassatt to paint a mural for the Women’s building for the world’s Columbian exhibition held in eighteen eighty three.

The mural was designed as a triptych the central theme was titled (“Young women plucking the fruits of knowledge.”) The left panel was called (“Young girls pursuing fame”) and the right panel was called, (”Arts, music, Dancing)”.

This mural displays a community of women apart from their relation to men as accomplished person’s in their own right. Palmer considered Cassatt to be an American treasure and could not think of anyone better than Cassatt to paint, a mural at the exhibition that was to do so much to focus the world’s attention on the status of women. But to the dismay of Cassatt the mural was destroyed when the exhibition was torn down.

France awarded her the Legion d nneur in nineteen hundred four but her name would be overshadowed by her brother, ( Alexander Cassatt) who was the president of the( Pennsylvania rail road )from eighteen ninety nine until his death.

Needless to say, Cassatt was deeply saddened when he died, as they were very close and this influenced many of her later paintings. Her paintings were loved by both the public and private collectors but she was no longer breaking new ground with any new styles of painting. Even though the impressionists were off her back, she still felt hostile towards the new styles of fauvism and cubism.

A trip to( Egypt) in nineteen ten impressed Cassatt with the beauty of this( ancient art ) but was a flat line in her creativity. She said that the art of Egypt was the best that the past has left.

In nineteen eleven, Cassatt was diagnosed with( diabetes )(,Rueumatism,)( Neuralgia ) and( cataracts) so she could not paint anymore as she became almost blind.

Cassatt later( died )at Chateau de Beaufresne on June the fourteenth nineteen twenty six.