Cassatt are…the only artists who distinguish themselves…and who offer some attraction and some excuse in the pretentious show of window dressing and infantile daubing.’
She was invited to exhibit with the Impressionists in 1877 by Degas, who became her lifelong friend. One critic later wrote: ‘M. Degas and Mlle. Cassatt are…the only artists who distinguish themselves…and who offer some attraction and some excuse in the pretentious show of window dressing and infantile daubing.’ Faint praise indeed.