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

Mary 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.

In regard to Degas's invitation to exhibit with the Impressionists, she told her biographer, Achille Ségard:

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.

Explore the life, times, and work of the artist Mary Cassatt.

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