Cassatt saw that works by female artists were often dismissed with contempt unless the artist had a friend or protector on the jury, and she would not flirt with jurors to curry favor. Her cynicism grew when one of the two pictures she submitted in 1875 was refused by the jury, only to be accepted the following year after she darkened the background. She had quarrels with Sartain, who thought Cassatt too outspoken and self-centered, and eventually they parted. Out of her distress and self-criticism, Cassatt decided that she needed to move away from genre paintings and onto more fashionable subjects, in order to attract portrait commissions from American socialites abroad, but that attempt bore little fruit at first.
Cassatt saw that works by female artists were often dismissed with contempt unless the artist had a friend or protector on the jury and she would not flirt with jurors to curry favor Her cynicism grew when one of the two pictures she submitted in 1875 was refused by the jury only to be accepted the following year after she darkened the background She had quarrels with Sartain who thought Cassatt too outspoken and self-centered and eventually they parted Out of her distress and self-criticism Cassatt decided that she needed to move away from genre paintings and onto more fashionable subjects in order to attract portrait commissions from American socialites abroad but that attempt bore little fruit at first