Berthe Morisot

Biography Four years after her debut, Berthe met the painter Edouard Manet through fellow artist Henri Fantin- Latour. They formed a close friendship based on mutual respect and admiration for each otherʼs work. She encouraged Manet to take up open-air painting and to employ a lighter palette. Though she was never a pupil of Manetʼs, she adopted a more modern approach to painting from him, focusing on portraits over landscapes. Manet, in turn, painted many portraits of her, notably “The Balcony” and “Repose,” (in all, Morisot appeared in eleven of Manetʼs works). The Manets and Morisots were close and the families often took vacations together.

At the Salon of 1870 Morisot showed “The Artistʼs Sister and Mother Reading” (which was heavily Berthe Morisot was born in Bourges, France, the retouched by Manet and attracted little attention), youngest of three daughters in an upper middle- and “Harbor of Lorient.” Manet praised the second class family. In 1848, when Berthe was seven painting so enthusiastically that Morisot presented years old, the family moved to Paris. Berthe and it to him as a gift. [The Salon was the government her sister Edma (who was two years older) were sponsored and sanctioned art exhibition held given art instruction at an early age and annually in Paris. It had a firm grip on artists, demonstrated a dedication and seriousness that galleries and artistic reputations since without were not expected from girls of their class. One of exposure from the Salon, a painter could not be their first teachers was Joseph Guichard who considered a professional. All artwork submitted quickly became aware of the sistersʼ skill. Their had to conform to the rigid criteria of the Salon training included copying some of the old masters jury or be rejected.] at the Louvre Museum. They also wished to paint outdoors, which was customary at the time, but Through Manet, Berthe met many of the members because respectable women in the mid-19th of the Impressionist group. In 1874, against century did not go out alone and wander freely in Manetʼs advice and example, Morisot began to Paris, Guichard restricted them. exhibit with this group of independent artists. They financed their own exhibition in opposition to the In 1861, the Morisot sisters met Camille Corot, a Salon, called “Salon des Refuses” (Salon of the landscape painter whose work they greatly Refused), to highlight the official Salonʼs admired. Because Corot executed many of his oil disapproval of their art. Their art sought to sketches outdoors, he is referred to as the first “en capture a moment in time (mimicking the workings plein air” or “in the open air” painter. He became of the new invention, the camera) by recording the the sistersʼ mentor and invited them to watch him artistʼs personal impressions. The advent of paint. Since women were not allowed to join portable paint tubes allowed them to carry oil paint official art schools until the last few years of the out into the field and apply it in thicker, freer brush century, this was a unique opportunity to further strokes. They were also interested in the new their art education. Corot became a family friend scientific research into light and color. Mostly they and, from 1862 to 1868, Bertheʼs paintings show wanted to break away from the Salonʼs demand his influence in light and color. Eventually Berthe for an “important” subject—historical, mythical, debuted two landscape paintings at the allegorical—that conveyed a story and was prestigious state-run Salon of 1864, and her work destined for the homes of the upper classes and was shown there regularly for the next decade. government buildings. Instead they painted small scale contemporary genre and landscape scenes directly from nature with no “story” involved. The

For Educational Purposes Only Revised 09/12 1 Berthe Morisot

six core members of the Impressionist group were Renoir or Sisley. Her first one-woman show was Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste held in 1892. Her husband, Eugene, died during Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas and Berthe the preparation for this exhibit after a long illness. Morisot. Morisotʼs friends and fellow artists rallied around her and her young daughter, and she continued to In December, 1874, at age 33, Morisot married work. After the solo show, she sold a number of Edouard Manetʼs younger brother, Eugene, who works and she earned further recognition in 1894 was also a painter. Eugene Manet supported his when the French government purchased her wife in her work, and the marriage gave her social painting “Young Woman in a Ball Gown.” and financial stability while she continued her painting career. Berthe Morisot exhibited in all of In the winter of 1894-95, at the age of 54, Morisot the Impressionist exhibitions except in 1877, when contracted pneumonia and died on March 2, 1895. she was pregnant with her daughter, Julie (born in After her death, Renoir and Degas organized a 1878). Meanwhile her sister Edma had stopped retrospective of her work that garnered serious painting after her own marriage, though she often critical acclaim and ensured her place as one of posed as a model for her sister. Free of the the founding members of the revolutionary money worries that plagued Monet, Renoir, Impressionist movement. Her career was Pissarro and Sisley, Morisot worked earnestly and remarkable for a number of reasons. As a group, loyally as a member of the group. Unfortunately, the Impressionists were among the most maligned her contributions were less emphasized than her painters of the 19th century. Under the role as a female supporter within the group. The circumstances, it must have seemed unlikely that freshness and intimacy of her subjects engaged in a respectable, upper middle-class woman would traditional feminine occupations and pastimes join them. Additionally, her social position and sex earned her the label of “feminine artist.” made her choice of profession as an artist unusual. Along with Mary Cassatt (who joined the Like her friend, Mary Cassatt, her art glorified group later), she has the distinction of being one domestic life, but unlike Cassattʼs careful linearity of the first women to officially challenge the art and deliberately flattened figures and spaces, establishment and to achieve fame outside Morisotʼs works were more spontaneous and officially approved circles. Yet, on her death natural. She worked in oils, watercolors, and certificate, she is listed as having “no profession.” pastels and produced numerous drawings. Her She was buried in the Manet family tomb in compositions convey the tranquil moments where Passy, joining her husband Eugene and her close figures are in repose, quietly reflecting upon their professional colleague, Edouard Manet. own thoughts. She used vivid colors and energetic, expressive brushwork to contrast a contemplative figure with vivid surroundings. In Bibliography her later works of the 1880s, she devoted more attention to drawing and was influenced by the www.biography.com style, color and methods of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Rather than relying on spontaneous Letʼs Meet Famous Women Artists, by Jacqueline observation as in her earlier work, Morisot copied Badman and Lisa Lewis-Spicer, ©1996, Instructional Renoir by making numerous sketches of her Fair, Grand Rapids, Michigan. subject before beginning a painting. Two paintings that showcased her new style were “The Cherry Tree” and “Girl with a Greyhound.”

The classical simplicity of Morisotʼs work caused less public scandal than her fellow Impressionists and although she was never commercially successful during her lifetime, she did receive consistently better auction prices than Monet,

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