Returning to the United States in the late summer of 1870 — as the Franco-Prussian War was starting — Cassatt lived with her family in Altoona . Her father continued to resist her chosen vocation , and paid for her basic needs , but not her art supplies . Cassatt placed two of her paintings in a New York gallery and found many admirers but no purchasers . She was also dismayed at the lack of paintings to study while staying at her summer residence . Cassatt even considered giving up art , as she was determined to make an independent living . She wrote in a letter of July 1871 , " I have given up my studio & torn up my father 's portrait , & have not touched a brush for six weeks nor ever will again until I see some prospect of getting back to Europe . I am very anxious to go out west next fall & get some employment , but I have not yet decided where . " Cassatt traveled to Chicago to try her luck , but lost some of her early paintings in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . Shortly afterward , her work attracted the attention of the archbishop of Pittsburgh , who commissioned her to paint two copies of paintings by Correggio in Parma , Italy , advancing her enough money to cover her travel expenses and part of her stay . In her excitement she wrote , " O how wild I am to get to work , my fingers farely itch & my eyes water to see a fine picture again " . With Emily Sartain , a fellow artist from a well-regarded artistic family from Philadelphia , Cassatt set out for Europe again
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Mary Cassatt