a Harvard alumnus scholar and linguist. His granduncle was Matthew C. Perry, Commodore of the United States Navy. The couple had three daughters: Margaret (1876), Edith (1880), and Alice (1884). Education and early career She completed what is considered to be her earliest known painting, Portrait of an Infant (Margaret Perry) dating from 1877 to 1878. This work draws on the inspiration that would occupy much of her artwork throughout her career – her children. Boston In 1884 Perry began her formal artistic training with the portrait painter Alfred Quinton Collins. Collins had studied at the Académie Julian in Paris under the guidance of Léon Bonnat. Perry's The Beginner, c. 1885–86, represents the first work she completed under formal guidance. The Beginner echoes Collins’ influences with the sitter's serious gaze, dark background, and emphasis on dramatic lighting. In 1885, Perry's father died and left her an inheritance that allowed her to more seriously study art. In January 1886, she began to study with Robert Vonnoh, an artist who worked in the Impressionist's en plein air style at Grez-Sur-Loing in France. She took classes with instructor Dennis Bunker at Cowles Art School in Boston beginning in November 1886. Cowles taught its students "liberal theories" in the creation of realist art – theories that Perry greatly responded to. Paris Perry was commissioned by the Waltham Watch Company to paint his three daughters.She earned sufficient money to travel first-class passage to Europe in June 1887. The Perrys moved to Paris that year. Perry enrolled in the Académie Colarossi, where she worked with Gustave Courtois and Joseph Blanc. She studied with Felix Borchardt, a German painter. In addition to receiving formal academic training, Perry spent much of her time studying the old masters in museums with Bernard Berenson, an art critic and her husband's friend. She also traveled to Spain to copy works at the Museo del Prado. Perry's The Red Hat from 1888 strongly reflects the formal training she had received and her exposure to the old masters, especially the work of Sandro Botticelli. In 1888 Perry traveled to Munich where she studied with the German social realist Fritz von Uhde. Uhde's handling of the subject and his use of color had a dynamic effect on Perry's work. By the fall of 1888 Perry had returned to Paris. She studied at Académie Julian with Tony Robert-Fleury. With the encouragement of Walter Gay, Perry