Pennsylvania-born Mary Cassatt, one of America’s most acclaimed artists of the nineteenth century spent nearly her entire career abroad. After studying at Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1861-5, Cassatt moved to France shortly thereafter. She exhibited at the official Salon in the 1870s and on the invitation from Edgar Degas, exhibited with the French Impressionists in 1879, 1880 and 1886.
A dedicated printmaker, the artist produced more than two hundred aquatints, etchings, and drypoints over a period of three decades. She embraced the colors, cropping and patterns of Japanese woodblock prints in her graphic work.