Self Portrait
Berthe Morisot was born in France (1841-1895) and exhibited with the Impressionists (then a group of painters who’d been rejected by the elite) in 1864). These artists included Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. Before that she had exhibited in the Salon de Paris (1874).
The current exhibition is currently on at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Berthe was married to Eugène Manet, the brother of her friend and colleague Édouard Manet, but who himself was an artist. Berthe was unique in still painting throughout her marriage. Most women artists, like one of her sisters, who herself was an excellent artist, gave up art once married to look after husband and children. It was the done thing in those days.
As part of the ticket price there was an downloaded App to accompany the exhibition. You just had to remember your earphones!
Alongside Berthe’s own paintings were art works she had copied, taking a segment of that painting and giving it her own style.
This is Berthe’s husband looking through a window
One of these paintings was the Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough. Here she uses a girl instead of a boy, and sets it in a domestic scene.
All the blues. Excuse the reflection, this one was under glass.
Morisot used to go out early to paint, around six in the morning. She used the same models, wearing the same dresses each time, to capture the scene.
Berthe travelled to England and in the above picture is a letter she wrote talking about the places she visited, including the Isle of Wight, St Leonard’s and Worthing.
This is another painting where Berthe copied a section of another artist’s picture to create her own.
There were many paintings of her daughter, Julie Manet. The one below is in pastel.
I took this photo to show the different styles of pastels. This is not by Berthe (Sorry I can’t remember who it’s by). It sat alongside the pastel of Julie Manet but it is still a pastel. I was amazed at the detail, how smooth. I needed to go close to this because it looked like paint. The white mark on the crease near the shoulder confirmed it!
Julie Manet
I admire Berthe’s use of white in her paintings to emphasise drapery, and in this, the curtain behind the girl.
Again here, those light touches.
Berthe painted this picture of her daughter wearing mourning clothes. She lost her father at the age of fourteen and the empty chair was his. Tragically, Berthe died just two years later.
What a sad note to end on. I wanted to know what happened to Julie. I was pleased to find that Julie was an artist, diarist, and poet. I found this wonderful article about the Morisot’s, and especially Julie, in the Irish Times, which includes paintings. She lived with her cousins and married Ernest Rouart in a double wedding with her cousin Jeannie. Fascinating story. Worth a read.
Dulwich Picture Gallery and gardens
My London+ 