Born May 22, 1844, Allegheny City, PA, USA

Died June 14, 1926, Paris, France

• Enrolled at the age of 15, over her family’s objections, in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, one of the few institutions at the time to accept women

• Impatient with the limitations put on female students, she arranged to study abroad, moving to Paris in 1866; women were not allowed to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, so she studied privately with master painters

• Eventually settled permanently in Paris; she was invited by artist Edward Degas to join the Impressionists, becoming one of only a few women, and rst American, to do so

• Is known for her portraits of women, whom she portrayed as intelligent and independent

 Young Mother Sewing, 1900

 Woman Reading in a Garden, 1880