Berthe Morisot

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (; 14 January 1841 – 2 March 1895) was a French painter, printmaker and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists.

In 1864, Morisot exhibited for the first time in the highly esteemed Paris Salon, listed as a student of Joseph Guichard and Achille-Francois Oudinot. Her work was selected for exhibition in six subsequent Salons until, in 1874, she joined the "rejected" Impressionists in the first of their own exhibitions (15 April – 15 May 1874), which included Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley. It was held at the studio of the photographer Nadar. Morisot went on to participate in all but one of the following eight impressionist exhibitions, between 1874 and 1886.

Morisot was married to Eugène Manet, the brother of her friend and colleague Édouard Manet.

She was described by art critic Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of , of Impressionism alongside Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt.

Early life The Mother and Sister of the Artist (1869/70). Depicting Marie-Joséphine and Edma.

Morisot was born on 14 January 1841, in Bourges, France, into an affluent bourgeois family. Her father, Edmé Tiburce Morisot, was the prefect (senior administrator) of the department of Cher. He also studied architecture at . Her mother, Marie-Joséphine-Cornélie Thomas, was the great-niece of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, one of the most prolific Rococo painters of the ancien régime. She had two older sisters, Yves (1838–1893) and Edma (1839–1921), plus a younger brother, Tiburce, born in 1848. The family moved to Paris in 1852, when Morisot was a child.

It was commonplace for daughters of bourgeois families to receive art education, so Berthe and her sisters, Yves and Edma, were taught privately by Geoffroy-Alphonse Chocarne and Joseph Guichard. Morisot and her sisters initially started taking lessons so that they could each make a drawing for their father for his birthday. Guichard also introduced them to the works of Gavarni.

Her sister Yves married Théodore Gobillard, a tax inspector, in 1866 and was painted by Edgar Degas as Madame Théodore Gobillard (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City).

As a copyist at the Louvre, Morisot met and befriended other artists such as Manet and Monet. By 1863 she was studying under , another Barbizon painter. In the winter of 1863–64 she studied sculpture under Aimé Millet, but none of her sculptures is known to survive.

Main periods of Morisot's work

Training, 1857–1870 It is hard to trace the stages of Morisot's training and to tell the exact influence of her teachers because she was never pleased with her work and she destroyed nearly all of the artworks she produced before 1869. Morisot began her first art lessons in 1857, and her first teacher, Geoffroy-Alphonse Chocarne, taught her the basics of drawing. After several months, Morisot began to take issue with the dull and monotonic nature of Chocarne's teaching, requesting a new teacher. She subsequently began to take classes taught by Guichard. During this period, she drew mostly ancient classical figures. When Morisot expressed her interest in plein air painting, Guichard sent her to follow Corot and Oudinot. Painting outdoors, she used watercolours, which were easy to carry. At that time, Morisot also became interested in pastel.

Watercolour, 1870–1874 During this period, Morisot still found oil painting difficult, and worked mostly in watercolours. Her choice of colours is rather restrained; however, the delicate repetition of hues renders a balanced effect. Due to specific characteristics of watercolours as a medium, Morisot was able to create a translucent atmosphere and feathery touch, which contribute to the freshness of her paintings. She exhibited with the Impressionists from 1874 onwards, only missing the exhibition in 1879 when her daughter Julie was born.

Impressionism's claimed attachment to brilliant colour, sensual surface effects, and fleeting sensory perceptions led a number of critics to assert in retrospect that this style, once primarily the battlefield of insouciant, combative males, was inherently feminine and best suited to women's weaker temperaments, lesser intellectual capabilities, and greater sensibility.

During Morisot's 1874 exhibition with the Impressionists, such as Monet and Manet, Le Figaro critic Albert Wolff noted that the Impressionists consisted of "five or six lunatics of which one is a woman...[whose] feminine grace is maintained amid the outpourings of a delirious mind." She chose to exhibit under her full maiden name instead of using a pseudonym or her married name. As her skill and style improved, many began to rethink their opinion toward Morisot. In the 1880 exhibition, many reviews judged Morisot among the best, even including Le Figaro critic Albert Wolff.

Turning, 1885–1887 After 1885, drawing began to dominate in Morisot's works. Morisot actively experimented with charcoals and coloured pencils. Her reviving interest in drawing was motivated by her Impressionist friends, who are known for blurring forms. Morisot put her emphasis upon the clarification of the form and lines during this period. In addition, she was influenced by photography and Japonism. She adopted the style of placing objects away from the centre of the composition from Japanese prints of the time. Around 1880 she began painting on unprimed canvases—a technique Manet and Eva Gonzalès also experimented with at the time —and her brush-work became looser. In 1888–89, her brush-strokes transitioned from short, rapid strokes to long, sinuous ones that define form. The outer edges of her paintings were often left unfinished, allowing the canvas to show through and increasing the sense of spontaneity. After 1885, she worked mostly from preliminary drawings before beginning her oil paintings. She often worked in oil paint, watercolours, and pastel simultaneously, and sketched using various drawing media. Morisot's works are almost always small in scale.

Morisot created a sense of space and depth through the use of colour. Although her colour palette was somewhat limited, her fellow impressionists regarded her as a "virtuoso colourist". Paintings like The Cradle (1872), in which she depicted current trends for nursery furniture, reflect her sensitivity to fashion and advertising, both of which would have been apparent to her female audience. Her works also include landscapes, garden settings, boating scenes, and themes of boredom or ennui. In her late works, she often referred to the past to recall a memory from her earlier life and youth, and her departed companions. Henri Fantin-Latour, a fellow artist, introduced Morisot to Édouard Manet in 1868. She became his longtime friend and colleague, and she married his brother, Eugène Manet, in 1874. On 14 November 1878, she gave birth to her only child, Julie, later a painter and art collector, who posed frequently for her mother and other Impressionist artists, including Renoir and her uncle Édouard.

Correspondence between Morisot and Édouard Manet shows warm affection, and Manet gave her an easel as a Christmas present. Morisot often posed for Manet and there are several portrait paintings of Morisot such as Repose (Portrait of Berthe Morisot) and Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets. Morisot died on 2 March 1895, in Paris, of pneumonia contracted while attending to her daughter Julie's similar illness, thus making Julie an orphan at the age of 16. The day before she died, Berthe wrote to Julie: Berthe Morisot was interred in the Cimetière de Passy.

It has been speculated that there was a repressed love between Manet and Morisot, exemplified by the numerous portraits he did of her before she married his brother.

Works

Selection of works This list is incomplete, you can help by expanding it with certified entries. This limited selection is based in part on the book Berthe Morisot, Impressionist, by Charles F. Stuckey and William P. Scott, with the assistance of Suzanne G. Lindsay, which is in turn drawn from the 1961 catalogue by Marie-Louise Bataille, Denis Rouart, and Georges Wildenstein. There are variations between the dates of execution, first showing, and purchase. Titles may vary between sources.

1864–1874 Étude (1864), oil on canvas, 60.3 × 73 cm, private collection Chaumière en Normandie (1865), oil on canvas, 46 × 55 cm, private collection La Seine en aval du pont d'Iéna (1866), oil on canvas, 51 × 73 cm, private collection La Rivière de Pont Aven à Roz-Bras (1867), oil on canvas, 55 × 73 cm, private collection – Chicago Bateaux à l'aurore (1869), pastel on paper, 19.7 × 26.7 cm, private collection The Artist's Sister at a Window (1869), oil on canvas, 54.8 x 46.3 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington The Sisters (1869), National Gallery of Art Washington The Mother and Sister of the Artist (1869–1870), oil on canvas, 101 × 81.8 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington The Harbour at Lorient (1869), oil on canvas, 43 × 72 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington Le Port de Cherbourg (1871), crayon and watercolour on paper, 15.6 × 20.3 cm, private collection of Paul Mellon, United States Le Port de Cherbourg (1871), oil on canvas, 41.9 × 55.9 cm, private collection of Paul Mellon, United States Vue de paris de hauteurs du Trocadéro (1871), oil on canvas, 46.1 × 81.5 cm, Santa Barbara Museum of Art Woman and Child on the Balcony (1871–72), watercolour, 20.6 × 17.3 cm, Art Institute of Chicago Intérieur (1871), oil on canvas, 60 × 73 cm, private collection Portrait of Madame Pontillon (1871), pastel on paper, 85.5 × 65.8 cm, Louvre L'Entrée du port (1871), watercolour on paper, 24.9 × 15.1 cm, , Bagnols-sur-Cèze – drawings cabinet Madame Pontillon et sa fille Jeanne sur un canapé (1871), watercolour on paper, 25.1 × 25.9 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington Jeune fille sur un banc (Edma Pontillon) (1872), oil on canvas, 33 × 41 cm Cache-cache (1872), oil on canvas, 33 × 41 cm, Private collection The Cradle (1872), oil on canvas, 56 × 46 cm, Musée d'Orsay Reading (portrait of Edma Morisot) (1873), oil on canvas, 45.1 × 72.4 cm, Cleveland Museum of Art Madame Boursier et sa fille (1873), oil on canvas, 74 × 52 cm, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Le Village de Maurecourt (1873), pastel on paper, 47 × 71.8 cm, private collection Coin de Paris vu de Passy (1873), pastel on paper, 27 × 34.9 cm, private collection Sur la terrasse (1874), oil on canvas, 45 × 54 cm, Musée du Petit Palais In a Villa by the Seaside (1874), oil on canvas,50.2 x 61 cm, Norton Simon Museum Portrait de Madame Hubbard (1874), oil on canvas, 50.5 × 81 cm, Ordrupgaard Femme et enfant au bord de la mer (1874), watercolour on paper, 16 × 21.3 cm, private collection In a Park (c. 1874), pastel on paper, 72.5 × 91.8 cm, Musée du Petit Palais

1875–1884 Percher de blanchisseuses (1875), oil on canvas 33 × 40.8 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington Scène de port dans l'île de Wight (1875), oil on canvas, 48 × 36 cm, private collection Scène de port dans l'île de Wight (1875), oil on canvas, 43 × 64 cm, Newark Museum Eugène Manet on the Isle of Wight (1875), oil on canvas, 38 × 46 cm, private collection Avant d'un yacht (1875), watercolour on paper, 20.6 × 26.7 cm, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Woman at her Toilette (1875), oil on canvas, 46 × 38 cm, private collection Woman at her Toilette (1875–1880), 60.3 × 80.4 cm, Art Institute of Chicago Portrait de femme (Avant le théâtre) (1875), oil on canvas, 57 × 31 cm, Galerie Schröder & Leisewitz Bremen Jeune femme au bal (Young Woman in Evening Dress) (1876), oil on canvas, 86 × 53 cm, Musée d'Orsay Au Bal (Young Girl at the Ball) (1875), oil on canvas, 62 × 52 cm, Musée Marmottan-Monet Jeune Femme arrosant un arbuste (1876), oil on canvas, 40.01 × 31.75 cm, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Le Corsage noir (1876), oil on canvas, 73 × 59.8 cm, National Gallery of Ireland The Psyche Mirror (1876), oil on canvas, 65 × 54 cm, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Rêveuse (1877), pastel on canvas, 50.2 × 61 cm, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art L'Été (Jeune femme près d'une fenêtre) (1878), oil on canvas, 76 × 61 cm, Musée Fabre Jeune femme assise (1878–1879), oil on canvas, 80 × 100 cm, private collection, United States Summer's Day (1879), 45.7 × 75.3 cm, National Gallery London Dans le jardin (Dames cueillant des fleurs) (1879), oil on canvas, 61 × 73.5 cm, Nationalmuseum Stockholm Young Woman in Evening Dress (1879), oil on canvas, 71 x 54 cm, Musée d'Orsay Winter (Woman with a Muff) (1880), oil on canvas, 73.5 × 58.5 cm, Dallas Museum of Art Deux filles assises près d'une table (1880), crayon and watercolour on paper, 19,6 × 26.6 cm, private collection, Germany Bateaux sur la Seine (c. 1880), 25.5 × 50 cm Child among the Hollyhocks (1881), Wallraf-Richartz Museum Plage à Nice (1881–1882), watercolour on paper, 42 × 55 cm, Nationalmuseum Stockholm Le Port de Nice (1881–1882), oil on canvas, 53 × 43 cm, private collection Le Port de Nice (1881–1882), oil on canvas, 41 × 55 cm, private collection Le Port de Nice (third version) (c. 1881), 38 × 46 cm, Dallas Museum of Art Le Thé (1882), oil on canvas, 57.5 × 71.5 cm, Fondation Madelon Vaduz La Fable (1883), oil on canvas, 65 × 81 cm, private collection Le Jardin (Femmes dans le jardin) (1882–1883), oil on canvas, 99.1 × 127 cm, Sara Lee Corporation Eugène Manet et sa fille au jardin (1883), oil on canvas, 60 × 73, private collection Dans le jardin à Maurecourt (1883), oil on canvas, 54 × 65 cm, Toledo Museum of Art Le Quai de Bougival (1883), oil on canvas, 55.5 × 46 cm, National Gallery Oslo Julie et son bateau (Enfant jouant) (1883), watercolour on paper, 25 × 16 cm, private collection La Meule de foin (1883), oil on canvas, 55.3 × 45.7 cm, private collection, United States In The Garden at Maurecourt (1884), oil on canvas, 54 × 65.1 cm, Toledo Museum of Art Dans la véranda (1884), oil on canvas, 81 × 10 cm, private collection Julie avec sa poupée (1884), oil on canvas, 82 × 10 cm, private collection Petite fille avec sa poupée (Julie Manet) (1884), pastel on paper, 60 × 46 cm, private collection Sur le lac (1884), oil on canvas, 65 × 54 cm, private collection The Artist's Daughter, Julie, with her Nanny (c. 1884), oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Art

1885–1894 Autoportrait (1885), pastel on paper, 47.5 × 37.5 cm, Art Institute of Chicago Autoportrait avec Julie (1885), oil on canvas, 72 × 91 cm, private collection Jeune femme assise au Bois de Boulogne (1885), watercolour on paper, 19 × 28 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art La Forêt de Compiègne (1885), oil on canvas, 54.2 × 64.8 cm, Art Institute of Chicago The Bath (Girl Arranging Her Hair) (1885–1886), oil on canvas, 81.1 × 72.3 cm, Art Institute of Chicago In the Dining Room (1885–1886), oil on canvas, 61.3 × 50 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington Le Lever (1886), oil on canvas, 65 × 54 cm, collection Durand-Ruel Intérieur à Jersey (Intérieur de cottage) (1886), oil on canvas, 50 × 60 cm, Musée communal des beaux-arts d'Ixelles Femme s'essuyant (1886–1887), pastel on paper, 42 × 41 cm, unknown Julie avec un chat (1887), drypoint, 14.5 × 11.3 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington Nu de dos (1887), charcoal on paper, 57 × 43 cm, private collection Éventail en médaillon (1887), watercolour on silk fan, private collection Portrait of Paule Gobillard (1887), coloured pencil on paper, 27.9 × 22.9 cm, Reader's Digest Association Le Lac du Bois de Boulogne (1887), watercolour on paper, 29.5 × 22.2 cm, National Museum of Women in the Arts Washington Fillette lisant (La lecture) (1888), oil on canvas, 74.3 × 92.7 cm, Museum of Fine Arts Florida Young Girl in a Park (1888–1893), oil on canvas, 90 × 81 cm, Musée des Augustins Berthe Morisot and Julie Manet (c.1888–1890), drypoint, 18.42 x 13.49 cm, Minneapolis Institute of Art La Cueillette des oranges (1889), pastel, 61 × 46 cm, Musée d'art et d'histoire de Provence (1889), oil on canvas, 64 × 52 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon Sous l'oranger (Julie) (1889), oil on canvas, 54 × 65 cm, private collection L'Île du Bois de Boulogne (1889), oil on canvas, 68.4 × 54.6 cm, National Gallery of Art Washington Before the Mirror (1890), Fondation Pierre Gianadda The Flute Player (1891), oil on canvas, 56 × 87 cm, private collection Le Cerisier (1891), oil on canvas, 138 × 88.9 cm, private collection, United States Study for Le Cerisier (1891), pastel on paper, 45.7 × 48.9 cm, Reader's Digest Association Julie Manet avec son lévrier (1893), oil on canvas, 73× 80 cm, Musée Marmottan Monet Les Enfants de Gabriel Thomas (1894), oil on canvas, 100 × 80 cm, Musée d'Orsay Two Girls (1894), The Phillips Collection La Coiffure (1894), oil on canvas, 100 × 80 cm, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Buenos Aires Jeune fille aux cheveux noirs (1894), pencil and watercolour, 23.1 × 16.8 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art Jeune Fille au Manteau Vert, oil on canvas (c. 1894)

Portraits of Morisot

Art market

Morisot's work sold comparatively well. She achieved the two highest prices at a Hôtel Drouot auction in 1875, the Interior (Young Woman with Mirror) sold for 480 francs, and her pastel On the Lawn sold for 320 francs. Her works averaged 250 francs, the best relative prices at the auction.

In February 2013, Morisot became the highest priced female artist, when After Lunch (1881), a portrait of a young redhead in a straw hat and purple dress, sold for US$10.9 million at a Christie's auction. The painting achieved roughly three times its upper estimate, and it exceeded the 2012 record of US$10.7 million for a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois.

From Melissa Burdick Harmon, an editor at Biography magazine, "While some of Morisot's work may seem to us today like sweet depictions of babies in cradles, at the time these images were considered extremely intimate, as objects related to infants belonged exclusively to the world of women."

Exhibition Selected Berthe Morisot Solo Exhibitions DateParis, Boussod, Valadon et Cie. Exposition de tableaux, pastels et dessins par Berthe Morisot.1892, 25 May – 18 JuneParis, Galerie Durand-Ruel. Berthe Morisot (Madame Eugene Manet): exposition de son œuvre.1896, 5–23 MarchParis, Galerie Durand-Ruel. Exposition Berthe Morisot.1902, 23 April – 10 MayParis, Galerie E. Druet. Exposition Berthe Morisot.1905, January–FebruaryParis, Galerie Manzi-Joyant. Exposition Berthe Morisot.1912Paris. Galerie Manzi-Joyant. Exposition Berthe Morisot.1914, AprilParis, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. Cent oeuvres de Berthe Morisot (1841–1895).1919, 7–22 NovemberParis, Galerie Marcel Bernheim. Réunion d'oeuvres, par Berthe Morisot.1922, 20 June – 8 JulyChicago, Arts Club of Chicago. Exposition of Paintings by Berthe Morisot. 3 p.1925, 30 January – 10 MarchLondon, Ernest Brown & Phillips, Leicester Galleries. Berthe Morisot Exhibition.1930, March–AprilNew York, Wildenstein Gallery. Berthe Morisot Exhibition.1936, 24 November – 12 DecemberParis, Musée de l'Orangerie. Berthe Morisot, 1841–1895.1941, SummerParis, Galerie Weil. Berthe Morisot, retrospective.1947Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Berthe Morisot, 1841–1895: Mälningar: Olja och Akvarellsamt Teckningar.1949, 20 August – 23 OctoberBoston, Museum of Fine Arts. Berthe Morisot: Drawings, Pastels, Watercolours.1960, 10 October – 10 DecemberParis, Musée Jacquemart-André. Berthe Morisot.1961Paris, Galerie Hopkins-Thomas. Berthe Morisot.1987–88, April – 9 MayLondon, JPL Fine Arts. Berthe Morisot (1841–1895).1990–91, 7 November – 18 JanuaryParis, Galerie Hopkins-Thomas. Berthe Morisot.1993, 15 October – 30 NovemberLille, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Berthe Morisot2002, 10 March – 9 JuneMartigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Berthe Morisot2002, 20 June – 9 NovemberWashington DC, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Berthe Morisot: An Impressionist and Her Circle. 2005, 14 January – 8 MayMadrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Berthe Morisot: The Woman impressionist.2012, 15 November – 12 FebruaryQuébec, Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec, Berthe Morisot: Woman Impressionist. 2018, 21 June – 23 SeptemberDallas, Dallas Museum of Art, Berthe Morisot, Woman Impressionist2019, 24 February – 26 MayLondon, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism.2023, 31 March – 10 SeptemberGenoa, Palazzo Ducale, Impression Morisot2024, 12–2 October – 2025, 23 FebruaryTurin, GAM (Gallery Modern Art), Berthe Morisot. Pittrice impressionista2024, 16–2 October – 2025, 9 March