Maria Klass-Kazanowska came from an impoverished noble family. In 1878 she began studying at the school of painting for women run by Wojciech Gerson. On the professor's advice, in 1881 she left for further studies in St. Petersburg and began studying at the local Academy of Fine Arts. In 1884, she completed the basic course in B. Willewald's class, receiving a silver medal. With her husband, painter Władysław Kazanowski, she spent several years in Volhynia, from where they both returned to St. Petersburg. She painted - realistically - genre scenes, landscapes and architectural views from Volhynia (including Kamieniec Podolski), animalistic scenes and flower compositions.