Influences
of Degas

At a low point in her career, she could not get her paintings into the Salon in France. Edgar Degas invited her to show with the Impressionists. She had always admired Degas and accepted his invitation.

This group of artists tended to prefer open air painting and the application of vibrant color in separate strokes with little pre-mixing, which allows the eye to merge the results in an "impressionistic" manner.

Through this she gained spontaneity in her work and began to work outside of the studio.

Degas also influenced her greatly in the use of pastels from her standard oil painting. He also introduced her to printmaking on copper plates. Through this medium it showed her understanding of line and drawing.

Choose a piece by Degas and compare it to the one on the right by Cassatt. Compare in style, subject and any other similarities you may find.