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Berthe Morisot was one of three women artists associated with
the Impressionists. In her youth, Morisot received private art
lessons and an introduction to the Paris Salon, which she
participated in between 1864 and 1874. She befriended Manet and
Monet while employed at the Louvre as a copyist—low-paid women
who were hired to “copy” the art in the museum for sale—and
joined their cadre of Impressionists. Having become
disillusioned with the inequality of the Salon, she exhibited in
the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.
Although
the merits of her artistic production were recognized, Morisot
encountered misogyny throughout her career. Her preference for
depicting domestic scenes was often labeled as “feminine” by art
critics. As she recounted, “I don’t think there has ever been a
man who treated a woman as an equal and that’s all I would have
asked for, for I know I’m worth as much as they.”
Real painters understand with a brush in their hand.
Born in Bourges into a prosperous bourgeois family.
Exhibits for the first time at the Paris Salon.
Meets Édouard Manet. The two become lifelong friends.
Marries Manet’s brother Eugène.
Active in the establishment of Impressionist exhibitions, showing work in seven of the eight shows.
Included in Paul Durand-Ruel’s exhibition of Impressionists.
First solo exhibition.
Dies in Paris from pneumonia at the age of 54.
1. Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets (detail), 1872, oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Legacy of Count Isaac de Camondo for Musée du Louvre, 1911, RF 1998 30. Image © Musée d'Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt.
2. Woman at Her Toilette, 1875–1880, oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago, Stickney Fund, 1924.127.
3. In the Dining Room, 1886, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.185.
4. Summer’s Day, about 1879, oil on canvas. The National Gallery, London, Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, NG3264.