Mary Cassatt received her early training in America, but settled in Paris, where she exhibited with the Impressionists in the late 1870s.

Children and motherhood provided the primary themes for Cassatt's work. She successfully avoided sentimentalized views of childhood, focusing instead on her subjects freshness, intelligence and energy.

Like her mentor Edgar Degas, Cassatt worked well in pastel, a medium that utilized her drawing skills and refined sense of texture.