From the moment the American Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) made her debut in 1879 with the group of artists known as the Impressionists*, her name has been linked with that of the Frenchman Edgar Degas (1834-1917).
Cassatt stated that her first encounter with Degas’s art “changed my life,” while Degas, upon seeing Cassatt’s art for the first time, reputedly remarked, “there is someone who feels as I do”.
It was this shared sensibility as much as Cassatt’s extraordinary talent that drew Degas’s attention.