In a Victorian age when most womenwere confined to the circumscribedworld of marriage，homemaking andmotherhood，Mary Cassatt blazed like ashooting，star across the firmament ofthe male，dominated international artworld．She was certainly the greatestAmerican female artist of her time，andarguably she was the greatest producedby any nation．She was the only Ameri，can，male OT female，to become amember of the group that perhaps morethan any other revolutionized westernart，the French Impressionists．And tothis day the example of her courageousindependence and fierce dedication tonurturing her God，given talent remainsan inspiration to artists everywhere．