Perry's artistic career took on new meaning when she returned to Boston. She was not content to simply paint in the new style she had acquired while overseas. More than this, she was inspired to "foster a new truth in painting" in the Boston art community that was not responsive to the new Impressionist modes. In 1890 Perry helped to organize the first public exhibition of John Breck's landscapes at the St. Botolph Club. Perry won a silver medal in 1892 exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. In 1893 Perry was chosen to represent Massachusetts at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Perry had seven works displayed at the exhibition, of which four of the compositions were worked in the en plein air style (Petite Angèle, I, An Open Air Concert, Reflections, Child in a Window) and three were more formal studio portraits (Portrait of a Child, Child with a Violoncello, Portrait Study of a Child). In 1894 Perry had achieved another success when her Impressionist paintings were exhibited in Boston at the St. Botolph Club with other artists including Edmund C. Tarbell (1862–1938), Philip Leslie Hale (1865–1931), Theodore Wendel (1859–1932), Frederick Porter Vinton (1846–1911), and Dawson Dawson-Watson (1864–1939). Not only did this exhibition reveal that Perry's work was being accepted in America, it also proved that Impressionism was finally starting to be accepted as an art form outside of Europe. She also held an exhibit of Monet's work at the Boston Art Students Association that year. Between 1894 and 1897, Perry's work achieved international acclaim. Not only was she able to exhibit her work in Boston, she also regularly exhibited at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts at the Salon de Champ de Mars during this time. In 1897 brought another exhibition for Perry at the St. Botolph Club, in which a Boston Evening Transcript critic said of her work, "Mrs. Perry is one of the most genuine, on-nonsense, natural painters that we know of... Such paintings must be taken seriously." Unlike her previous exhibition at the same location, this time Perry was exhibiting her works in a solo show. This exhibit featured the breadth of Perry's artistic achievements up until this point including Impressionist portraits and landscapes. Japan A new inspiration entered her life in 1897 when her husband received a teaching position in Japan as an English professor at the Keio Gijuku University. Lilla Perry met