Mary Cassatt | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

<body> <p><img src="../images/1975319l.jpg" width="130" height="180"></p> <p><font size="+2">M</font>ary Cassatt (1844-1926) was a unique artist because she was a woman who succeeded in what was in the nineteenth century a predominantly male profession, because she was the only American invited to exhibit with a group of independent artists later known as the Impressionists, and because she responded in a very distinctive way to their mandate to portray modern life. </p> <p>In regard to Degas's invitation to exhibit with the Impressionists, she told her biographer, Achille Ségard: </p> <p><i>I accepted with joy. At last, I could work with absolute independence without considering the opinion of a jury. I had already recognized who were my true masters. I admired Manet, Courbet, and Degas. I hated conventional art.</i> </p> <p>Explore the <a href="indexl.html" target="_top">life</a>, <a href="indext.html" target="_top">times</a>, and <a href="index1.html" target="_top">work</a> of the artist Mary Cassatt. </p> <p><a href="indexl.html" target="_top">Life</a> <br> <a href="indext.html" target="_top">Times</a> <br> <a href="index1.html" target="_top">Works of Art</a> <br> <a href="indexg.html" target="_top">Glossary</a> <br> <a href="indexr.html" target="_top">References</a> </p> <p><a href target="left">Education Home </a></p> <p><a href target="left">The Metropolitan Museum of Art Home</a></p> <p><img src="../media/copy.GIF" width="254" height="17"> </p> </body>