Sunday, 13 May 2012

Berthe Morisot - part 3

Berthe Morisot by Paule Gobillard 
pastel

Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895) was a painter described by Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of "les trois grandes dames" of Impressionism alongside Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt.

This is part 3 of a 6-part post on the works of Berthe Morisot. For biographical notes on Morisot, see part 1. For earlier works, see parts 1 and 2 also.


1883 Haymakers at Bougival 
oil on canvas

1883 The Fable 
oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm

1883 Young Woman Sewing in the Garden 
oil on canvas

1884 Doll on a Porch 
oil on canvas 50 x 48 cm

1884 Hollyhocks 
oil on canvas

1884 On the Lake in the Bois de Boulogne 
oil on canvas

1884 On the Veranda 
oil on canvas

1884 Portrait of Paule Gobillard 
oil on canvas

1884 The Seine at Bougival 
oil on canvas

1884 Willows in the Garden at Bougival 
oil on canvas

1885 A Corner of the Rose Garden 
oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm

1885 Forêt de Compiègne 
oil on canvas 54.2 x 64.8 cm

1885 The Basket Chair 
oil on canvas

1885 The Red Blouse 
oil on canvas 73.5 x 60 cm

1885 Woman Wearing Gloves ( aka The Parisian ) 
oil on canvas

1885 Young Woman on a Couch 
oil on canvas

1885-86 Getting Up 
oil on canvas

1885-86 The Bath 
oil on canvas 72.3 x 91.1 cm

1886 Child with a Red Apron 
oil on canvas

1886 Little Girl with a Doll 
oil on canvas

1886 Port of Gorey 
oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm

1886 The Little Maid Servant 
oil on canvas 71 x 44 cm

1887 Girl with a Dog 
oil on canvas 78.8 x 60.1 cm

Friday, 11 May 2012

Berthe Morisot - part 2

Berthe Morisot by Paule Gobillard 
oil on canvas 1886

Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895) was a painter described by Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of "les trois grandes dames" of Impressionism alongside Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt.

This is part 2 of a 6-part post on the works of Berthe Morisot. For biographical notes on Morisot, and for earlier works, see part 1.


1875 Hanging the Laundry out to Dry 
oil on canvas 33 x 40.6 cm

1875 On the Beach 
oil on canvas 24 x 51 cm

c1875-1880 Woman at her Toilette 
oil on canvas 60.3 x 80.4 cm

c1875 Cornfield 
oil on canvas 47 x 69 cm

c1875 In the Dining Room 
oil on canvas 61.3 x 50 cm

1876 Psyche 
oil on canvas 64 x 54 cm

1876 Young Woman Watering a Shrub 
oil on canvas 40 x 32 cm

1877 Tureen and Apple 
oil on canvas 56 x 46 cm

1879 Behind the Blinds 
oil on canvas

1880 The Dining Room of the Rouart Family, Avenue d'Eylau 
oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm

1880 Winter aka Woman with a Muff 
oil on canvas

1880 Young Woman in Mauve 
oil on canvas

c1880 Boats on the Seine 
oil on canvas

1881 After Luncheon 
oil on canvas

1881 Child in the Rose Garden 
oil on canvas

1881 Eugene Manet and his Daughter at Bougival 
oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm

1881 On the Balcony of Eugene Manet's Room at Bougival 
oil on canvas

1881 Woman Hanging out the Wash 
oil on canvas 46 x 67 cm

1881-82 Pasie Sewing in the Garden 
oil on canvas

1882 Landscape of La Creuse 
oil on canvas 37.8 x 46.1 cm

1882 The Beach at Nice 
oil on canvas

1882 The Port of Nice 
oil on canvas

1882 Villa with Orange Trees, Nice 
oil on canvas

1883 Eugene Manet and His Daughter in the Garden 
oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

Berthe Morisot - part 1



Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895) was a painter described by Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of "les trois grandes dames" of Impressionism alongside Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt. Morisot was born in Bourges, France in 1841 into a family of wealth and culture. Her father was a high ranking civil servant. She was Fragonard's great-grand daughter.

After moving to Paris with her family, the Berthe received their first instruction in drawing and painting. 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. . She took some lessons for a time under Camille Corot.

In July 1868 Fantin-Latour introduced Berthe to Manet, whom she greatly admired. Although Manet was had a strong influence on her work, she soon developed a distinctive style of her own. Her style, in turn, influenced his painting and encouraged him to work en plein air. She appears in The Balcony and a number of later works. Unlike most of the other impressionists, who were then intensely engaged in optical experiments with colour, Morisot and Manet agreed on a more conservative approach, confining their use of colour to a naturalistic framework.


Manet 1868-9 "The Balcony" Berthe Morisot, Antoine Guillemet, Fanny Claus

Morisot married Manet's brother Eugene in December, 1874. Her house at 4 Rue de la Princesse in Bougival then became a social and inspirational centre for the Impressionists. By 1885 she had begun to hold regular soirees for friends that were artists or writers, including Mallarmé.

Morisot exhibited regularly at the Salon, and at all the Impressionist exhibitions except for 1879. Morisot took part in the innovations of the Impressionists from the beginning and she remained faithful up to the last group exhibition in 1886.

In March of 1895, Berthe Morisot died of pneumonia at the age of 54. In her last letter to her daughter, Julie Manet, she bequeathed paintings to Degas, Monet and Renoir. In spite of her international reputation as an artist, her death certificate bears the words "No professions".

This is part 1 of a 6-part post on the works of Berthe Morisot. Parts 1-4 show her oil paintings, parts 5-6 her watercolours and drawings:


1859 Farm in Normandy 
oil on canvas

1863 Old Path at Auvers 
oil on canvas

1864 Study - The Water's Edge 
oil on canvas 60 x 73.4 cm

1865 Thatched Cottage in Normandy 
oil on canvas

1869 The Artist's Sister at a Window 
oil on canvas

1869 The Harbour at Lorient 
oil on canvas 43 x 72 cm

1869 Two Sisters on a Couch 
oil on canvas 52.1 x 81.3 cm

1869-70 Mother and Sister of the Artist 
oil on canvas

1870 Portrait of Edma 
oil on canvas

c1870 The Pink Dress 
oil on canvas

1871-72 Woman and Child on a Balcony 
oil on canvas

1872 Interior 
oil on canvas 23.6 x 73 cm

1872 The Cradle 
oil on canvas 56 x 46 cm

1873 Hide-and-Seek 
oil on canvas 45 x 55 cm

1873 Reading with Green Umbrella 
oil on canvas

c1873 Young Girl with a Parrot 
pastel on paper 60 x 49.5 cm

1874 Boats under Construction 
oil on canvas

1874 Chasing Butterflies 
oil on canvas

1874 Madame Boursier and Her Daughter 
oil on canvas 73 x 56.5 cm

1874 On the Terrace 
oil on canvas

1874 Portrait of Madame Hubbard 
oil on canvas

1875 At the Ball 
oil on canvas

1875 English Seascape 
oil on canvas

1875 Eugène Manet on the Isle of White 
oil on canvas 38.1 x 18.1 cm