Morisot, Berthe

Morisot, Berthe (b. Jan. 14, 1841, Bourges, Fr.--d. March 2, 1895, Paris)
French painter and printmaker. The first woman to join the circle of the French impressionist painters, she exhibited in all but one of their shows, and, despite the protests of friends and family, continued to participate in their struggle for recognition.

Born into a family of wealth and culture, Morisot received the conventional lessons in drawing and painting. She went firmly against convention, however, in choosing to take these pursuits seriously and make them her life's work. Having studied for a time under Camille Corot, she later began her long friendship with Edouard Manet, who became her brother-in-law in 1874 and was the most important single influence on the development of her style. Unlike most of the other impressionists, who were then intensely engaged in optical experiments with color, Morisot and Manet agreed on a more conservative approach, confining their use of color to a naturalistic framework. Morisot, however, did encourage Manet to adopt the impressionists' high-keyed palette and to abandon the use of black. Her own carefully composed, brightly hued canvases are often studies of women, either out-of-doors or in domestic settings. Morisot and American artist Mary Cassatt are generally considered the most important women painters of the later 19th century.

Un village (Le village de Maurecourt)
Pastel on paper (160 Kb), 47 x 72 cm (18 1/2 x 28 1/4"); Private collection, New York

Study: At the Water's Edge
1864; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schoneman
one of the few early paintings of hers around.

The Artist's Sister at a Window
1869; National Gallery of Art, Washington
Also referred as "Young Woman Seated at a Window" or "Portrait of Edma Pontillon", the subject is Berthe Morisot's sister Edma.

Marine (The Harbor at Lorient)
1869 (130 Kb); Oil on canvas, 43.5 x 73 cm (17 1/2 x 28 3/4"); National Gallery of Art, Washington

La lecture (Reading: The Mother and Sister Edma of the Artist)
1869-70 (100 Kb); Oil on canvas, 101 x 81.8 cm (39 3/4 x 32 1/4"); National Gallery of Art, Washington; painting retouched by Manet

On the Balcony
1871-72; private collection.
The identity of the models is disputed.

Le berceau (The Cradle)
1872 (150 Kb); Oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm (22 x 18"); Musee d'Orsay, Paris
The models are her sister Edma and Edma's daughter Blanche.

Cache-cache (Hide-and-Seek)
1873 (150 Kb); Oil on canvas, 45 x 55 cm (17 3/4 x 21 5/8"); Collection Mrs. John Hay Whitney, New York
The models are Berthe Morisot's sister Edma and Edma's daughter Jeanne.

Portrait de Mademoiselle M.T. (Young Girl with a Parrot)
c. 1873 (150 Kb); Pastel on paper, 60 x 49.5 cm (23 5/8 x 19 3/8"); Private collection, New York

Butterfly Hunt
1874; Musée d'Orsay, Paris
The models are Edma and her children.

In a Park
1874; also known as "On the Grass"; Petit Palais, Paris
Edma and her children.

Eugène Manet on the Isle of Wight
1875; Private Collection
Eugène Manet, the artist's husband.

Figure of a Woman (Before the Theater)
1875-76; Galerie Schröder und Leisewitz, Kunsthandel, Bremen, Germany

The Psyché
1876; "The Cheval Glass"; Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Lugano, Switzerland

Portrait of Marcel Gobillard (Little Boy in Gray)
1880; private collection in Geneva.
The model is Mme Morisot's nephew.

Peasant Hanging out the Washing
1881 (170 Kb); Oil on canvas, 46 x 67 cm (18 x 26 1/4"); Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Little Girl with a Doll
1884; private collection

The Bath (Girl Arranging Her Hair)
1885-86; Sterling and Francine Church Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA.
The model is Isabelle Lambert.

Little Girl Reading
1888; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
The model is Jeanne Bonnet.

Julie Manet et son Lévrier Laerte
1893; Musée Marmottan, Paris.

Julie Rêveuse
1894; "Julie Daydreaming"; Private collection
the model is her daughter Julie.