At the time, women were not allowed to study at the French academy, so private education was the only option. Gérôme was one of the institution's most in-demand instructors, so it was no small feat that Cassatt managed to impress him with his early work. It was under Gérôme's guidance that she perfected her formal skills by traveling daily to the Louvre to copy the works on display. Students, like Cassatt, could pay their way through private lessons or at school by selling copies of the artwork they had made at the Louvre to American tourists. Around the same time that Cassatt moved permanently to Paris, Paris was undergoing social and artistic change from the previous status quo. Parallel to the evolution of aesthetics, we are witnessing the emergence of a radical new group of artists who attempt to break with the previous academic tradition. This group would soon be known as the Impressionists. Cassatt herself would not be part of this group over the next decade and would continue to work in a more traditional manner in order to be able to submit her works to the Paris Salon. With the Paris Salon not selecting as many of her pieces as she hoped, she became frustrated and began to move away from the more classic style. It was at this time (in 1870) that she returned home for a summer to sell some of her