,
Low Tide Riverside Yacht Club, (1894), Collection of Margaret and Raymond Horowitz , ''The Child's Bath'' (1893)
Impressionism emerged as an artistic style in
France in the 1860s. Major exhibitions of French impressionist works in Boston and New York in the 1880s introduced the style to the American public. The first exhibit took place in 1886 in New York and was presented by the
American Art Association and organized by
Paul Durand-Ruel . Some of the first American artists to paint in an impressionistic mode, such as
Theodore Robinson and
Mary Cassatt, did so in the late 1880s after visiting France and meeting with artists such as
Claude Monet. Others, such as
Childe Hassam, took notice of the increasing numbers of French impressionist works at American exhibitions. Impressionism was initially unpopular in the United States. At the first exhibit in 1886, Americans were attracted to the landscape paintings but were offended by the realist figures and nudity depicted in other paintings. Over time, American patrons began to accept the abstract forms of Impressionism, especially as American artists, such as Mary Cassatt, began to adopt the styles of French Impressionism.
Mary Cassatt Mary Cassatt played a large role in the adoption of Impressionism by American patrons. Mary Cassatt formed a close relationship with
Edgar Degas, who, impressed by her work, invited her to show with the French Impressionists in 1877. She was the only American ever to exhibit her work alongside the original Impressionists in France. Through her connections to wealthy upperclass Americans, Cassatt convinced many of her friends of the artistic merits of Impressionism and encouraged the purchase of French works. ==Characteristics of American Impressionism==