An American impressionist artist who moved to Paris in 1866, Mary Cassatt had studied art previously at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, but became frustrated with the teaching and limitations put on female artists.
An American impressionist artist who moved to Paris in 1866, Mary Cassatt had studied art previously at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, but became frustrated with the teaching and limitations put on female artists. French Academies did not allow women to have formal art training at the time, so she couldn’t join the École des Beaux-Arts. Therefore, she studied privately with an instructor from the school instead, and furthered her skills by copying old masters’ paintings at the Louvre.