The energy emanating from Berthe Morisot’s paintings hits me like a lightening rod. Surrounded by so much of her work at the Orsay exhibition, I feel engulfed by the vibrant strokes and colors, as if carpe diem were her motto, unsure that she would have time to capture everything she wanted to—the instant, the emotion.
I take in swaths of canvas that she left bare, work that intentionally looks unfinished and borders on abstraction. Yet while I can imagine her rebellious nature, attacking the canvas feverishly, her style remains both delicate and graceful. Her art is filtered, not a blatant protest.
Never before have I had the opportunity to experience so much of Morisot’s work. If lucky, I have seen one or two of her pieces in museums, yet she was a trailblazer in so many ways. Refusing to follow the dictates of society, she pursued a career, she innovated, but as with many women artists, she has had few retrospectives. So it is a real treat to observe the breadth of her work, which was cut off by her early death at 54.
In her formative years, she studied under Corot and became very close to Manet, two artists whom I love. Paintings like ”The Butterflies” and “Woman and Children on the Lawn” show these influences, with the refinement of Corot’s landscapes and the figures in black favored by Manet.
Woman and Children on the Lawn, 1874
The Butterflies, 1874
But then, look at “In the Wheat”. What a transformation a year later, as she lightened her palette and energized her paint application with the boy immersed in the bright fields. This impressionistic scene contrasts traditional and modern life as we see smoke emanating from factories in the background. Up close, we see how she moved breathlessly, letting the canvas shine through, yielding near abstraction in the foreground.
In the wheat, 1875
Closeup of In the Wheat
The Cradle, 1872
Her preferred subject was the female figure, using family and friends as her models. « The Cradle » is an iconic early piece featured in the first Impressionist exhibition, depicting her sister who abandoned her artistic career for marriage. The composition with its diagonals and contrasting values draws us into the intimate, tender scene.
Young Woman close to a Window, 1879
Such as a magnet, the « Young Woman Close to a Window » takes me into the model’s soul. Why is she indoors when she could be enjoying the summer roses? What is she thinking? Is she expectant? Restless? So many of the women seem so stylish, privileged, but dispirited. While Morisot had broken out from the status quo, her models seem resigned and idle.
When I focus on different parts of the composition, they are like mini-abstractions. Each quadrant is a feast for the eyes. The elegant dress is textured through scratching with the brush handle, and a few lively lines suggest layers of opulent fabric. I can’t help think that a later artist like Joan Mitchell found inspiration in her confident, bold brushstrokes, contrasted thin and impasto paint, and mastery of color.
Child With a Red Apron, 1886
“Child with a Red Apron” shows a similar spontaneity. The scene with the impish little girl looks like an unfinished study, with bare canvas peeking through, sketched forms, and a limited palette. Cool greys and blues dominate, but the warm red of the apron captures the eye. Morisot deliberately left swaths of the canvas unpainted, focusing on what for her was essential, the moment. Again, that instant was indoors, in front of a window.
Isabelle in the Garden, 1885
I was struck by the imploring gaze and minimalism of “Isabelle in the Garden”. The unpainted canvas dominates, and a few dashes suggest a dog in the lap of this young woman who is surrounded by nearly indecipherable flowers. Aspects feel oriental to me, with apricot and green colors as well as calligraphic lines.
Up close, the face is startling with red ears and green lines passing over, yet it all mixes perfectly at a distance.
Close up of Isabelle in the Garden
Mlle Julie Manet, 1894
Then, there is “Mlle Julie Manet. ». So different. A late work painted a year before Morisot’s own death, it shows her daughter mournful after the passing of her father. Morisot seems to have subjugated her dynamic style in favor of mood. She has softened her strokes, blended the paint, more in the manner of her early work, and she has eliminated any representational setting. All I see is the languid, wistful expression of Julie. The green of her eyes is matched in the background and shadows, and the whole is set off by her red hair.
We know that Berthe Morisot forged her career in a world normally blocked to women. Although her notoriety faded after her death, she was successful in life through a combination of luck, talent, and determination. She was fortunate in coming from a wealthy family that supported her ambition to be an artist, at a time when she could not enter the fine arts schools. She was also either fortunate or strategic in choosing a husband who had means and stopped his painting career in order to support hers. Eugene Manet, Edouard’s brother, had been a painter himself. But both talented and determined, she mastered all aspects of painting, and her delicacy, spontaneity, and light palette were innovative.
Self-Portrait, 1885
However, I rarely saw that pioneering aspect in the subjects of her paintings. The women and girls often appear as lovely adornments, straight out of the bourgeoisie, compliant in cloistered lives. Except in her own self-portrait, in which we see an uncompromisingly realistic depiction of Morisot... at work.
All photos my own.