Eddy Cassatt (Edward Buchanan Cassatt)

c. 1873

Spain: Madrid and Seville

Having finished the bishop’s commission, Mary travels to Madrid and Seville and paints a group of Spanish subjects, among them “Spanish Dancer Wearing a Lace Mantilla” (1873).

1874

Decides to settle in France

In 1874 Mary decides to take up residence in France; her sister Lydia joins her and they share an apartment, and she opens a studio in Paris.

1875

Degas’s pastels in a shop window

In an art dealer’s window Mary sees pastels by Edgar Degas; she later recalled flattening her nose against the glass to absorb all she could of his art. It was then, she said, that she saw art as she wanted to see it, and it changed her life.

1875–1876

Salon jury rejects a picture, then accepts it

In 1875 the jury refuses one of her two submissions, then accepts it the following year after she darkens the background. She saw that women’s work was often dismissed unless the artist had a friend or protector on the jury, and she would not flirt with jurors to win favour.

1877

Meets Degas and is invited to join the Impressionists

Edgar Degas, whose pastels had once changed how she saw art, invites Mary to show her work with the Impressionists. At last she could work quite independently, without worrying about the jury’s judgement.

1877

The Salon rejects both of her pictures

In 1877 the jury rejects both of her entries, and for the first time in seven years she has no work in the Salon. It is the low point of her career.