Strict rules existed regarding the appropriate behavior of the positioned social elite woman during the nineteen hundreds. For instance, it was not acceptable for a woman to be alone in a room with a man if he was not her father or brother. To fill her time she was encouraged to pursue light domestic activities that might include music, sewing, flower arranging or watercolor painting. Few women choose to extend these limiting boundaries. For, it was considered unconventional for woman of middle-class status to be desirous of obtaining a profession because they were not expected to do paid work.

To attend an Academy that taught the applied arts in the 1850’s a woman needed the approval from her male guardian. Regardless of the institutions’ geographical location the same social restrictions for women existed worldwide and were strictly enforced. And, if indeed the young woman received permission to attend an art academy there still remained obstacles in her path. Not to mention that it was considered unacceptable and therefore not permitted to sketch a fully clothed male model. Therefore, female students who participated in an Academy’s curriculum were not only excluded from attending the life-drawing classes but also prohibited from competing in the history painting category of the Salon competition. The former was important to build strong drawing skills while the latter was necessary to insure the artists’ financial survival.

One woman breaking with tradition was Berthe Morisot (1841-95). Morisot was born into an artistic family and was fortunate enough to be encouraged to follow her vision. She and her sister began their training in the mid 1950’s by copying the Old Masters in the Louvre. From their very first meeting Manet recognized and supported Morisot’s artistic pursuits and suggested that she join the Independents. Consequently, Berthe was the only woman to exhibit with Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, and Bazillle at the first Impressions’ Salon in 1874. After this first exhibit together she remained loyal to the group by refusing to submit works to the Beaux-Arts yearly Salon competition. Throughout her life she remained closely associated with the Impressionists’. During her career her paintings were in high demand and brought the highest prices of any in the group. She married Manet’s brother Eugene in 1874.

Second to follower her convictions was Mary Cassatt. Born in 1845 Pennsylvania, to wealthy parents. Over the objections of her father she moved to Paris to study painting after completing studies at Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. Like Morisot, Cassatt also studied the Old Masters but on location in Italy. Her work attracted the enthusiastic attention of Degas while she was exhibiting at the Beaux-Arts Salon in 1875. That first meeting developed into a lifelong friendship for the two of them. Cassatt enjoyed both a long and successful career so much so that upon her death in 1926 she was completely financially independent. Without having to rely on assistance of her family in later years. Her support of the Impressionists and influential connections helped establish their presence in private American collections and awareness in today’s museums.

Unlike Morisot and Cassatt the female student of today does not have restrictions placed on her curriculum. Gallery attendees can appreciate all forms of landscape, still life, history and portrait painting without regard as to which gender painted what picture. Created by both men and women without restrictions, rules or guidelines.

The Art Historian 2009