Mary Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania in 1844. When she was seven, her family moved to Europe. They wanted their children to understand European ways and the people who lived there. They travelled a lot and she had visited many countries by the time she was 10 years old. After four years they returned to America.        In those days, women didn't have professions, and there were very few women artists. Her family did not approve when she decided that she would become an artist. She studied first in Philadelphia. She happened to be in Chicago in 1871 when the huge fire broke out there. She lost many of her paintings in that fire.        She went to Paris to study painting. She met Camille Pissarro there. He taught her Impressionism, a method of painting where the artists used small strokes   of unmixed color1s to create an image. She once said of Pissarro that " _ " because he was such a good teacher. She spent a lot of time at the Louvre Museum copying paintings of the famous artists.        In 1874, her sister, Lydia, came to live with her in Paris. Lydia was her best friend and posed for many of Mary's paintings. Three years later, her parents came to Paris, also to live with them. Lydia became very ill and died from a disease. Mary missed her very much. Her parents became elderly and she cared for them, but she still found time to paint.       One of the more interesting works of Mary Cassatt is her painting, Portrait of Mrs. Curry, Sketch of Mr. Cassatt. Though she never had children of her own, she loved children and painted portraits of the children of her friends and family. She became known as the painter of mothers and children.        She lost her sight due to cataracts  in her eyes in 1914 and was not able to paint during the later years of her life. What is the passage mainly about?
A brief introduction to Mary Cassatt. The main works of Mary Cassatt. The influence of Impressionism on Mary Cassatt. Mary Cassatt's love for her family.