America (Amerique / United States)

Research Status: Basic Last Updated: 2026-02-10 Diary Coverage: Occasional references

Overview

America (the United States) appears in Marie Bashkirtseff's diary as a distant but increasingly prominent world power, a source of wealthy travelers on the European social circuit, and a symbol of the New World. American visitors to Paris and the Riviera were becoming more common in the 1870s-1880s, and the cultural exchange between America and Europe was accelerating.

Historical Context (1870s-1880s)

• Reconstruction: The post-Civil War era (ending 1877)
• Gilded Age: Rapid industrialization creating enormous new fortunes
• American tourists: Wealthy Americans increasingly traveled to Europe, especially Paris
• Cultural ambitions: American artists studied in Paris (at Academie Julian and elsewhere)
• The "American invasion": European society noted the growing presence of wealthy Americans
• Notable Americans in Paris: Henry James, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent

Significance for Marie

• Fellow art students: American women studied alongside Marie at Academie Julian
• Social encounters: Wealthy American tourists appeared in the social scenes Marie frequented
• Cultural comparison: America represented a different model of society and ambition
• Artistic world: American artists contributed to the Parisian art scene Marie inhabited

Related Entries

• #Paris - Where American and European worlds intersected
• #Salon - Where American artists also exhibited