An American painter born on May 22, 1844, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, Mary Stevenson Cassatt dedicated most of her social life to becoming one of America's most interesting artists. Growing up in Philadelphia, she was the fifth child of Katherine Kelso Johnston and Robert Simpson Cassatt, whom was a real estate and investment broker. Her upbringing was fairly distinctive for the era and her upbringing, at school, she prepared for life as a wife and mother, which included lessons in how to run a home as well as in being a genteel rebel of pastimes as embroidery, music, sketching, and painting. Mary Cassatt's parents moved to Europe for several years during the 1850s. .
In 1860, Mary who was now sixteen, enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In spite of the fact that women, especially those of the upper class, were discouraged from pursuing careers, she wanted to be a professional artist. By 1862, however, she had grown frustrated with the program's slow pace and insufficient course offerings. She also resented the condescending attitude of the male teachers and most of her fellow students. She concluded that the best way for her to learn about art would be to go to Europe and study the works of the old masters on her own. .
Overcoming the strong objections of her family (her father once declared he would rather see his daughter dead than living abroad as a "bohemian". Mary Cassatt left for Paris in 1866 to take private art lessons and copy masterpieces in the Louvre. Over the next few years, she traveled throughout France and stayed briefly in Rome. Her first break came in 1868, when one of her portraits was accepted at the prestigious Paris Salon, which was an exhibition run by the French government's Academy of Fine Arts. She changed her name to ""Mary Stevenson"", to protect her family from the embarrassment. Her debut effort was successfully received, as was another portrait she submitted in 1870.