The Cup of Tea
The American artist Mary Cassatt painted The Cup of Tea in Paris ca. 1879–1881. The painting depicts Mary's sister Lydia Cassatt in a typical, upper class-Parisian ritual of afternoon tea. Scholars have observed that Cassatt's choice to employ vivid colors, loose brushstrokes, and unique perspective to portray the scene makes it a quintessentially Impressionist painting. It is unclear when this painting was first exhibited. The painting is mentioned in Edgar Degas’s preliminary list of works for the Impressionist Exhibition of 1879. However, the post-exhibition catalog did not include The Cup of Tea. It was confirmed to have appeared in the Sixth Impressionist Exhibit of 1881 where it received much praise as well as criticism. The painting was later purchased by a retired American banker and friend of the Cassatt family, James Stillman. Today, the painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Cassatt's identity Cassatt was born in the United States in 1844 to parents Robert and Catherine Cassatt. She began her art career at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1861 at the age of seventeen. Cassatt was dissatisfied with her art education and yearned to continue her career abroad. Her father