Berthe Morisot

Berthe Morisot was Fragonard’s descendant, Corot’s student, Manet’s model. But above all, Morisot was the foremost female painter of the impressionist movement and, to quote Apollinaire, “one of the most complete artists of her day.” Morisot won over the impressionists with her talent and became the first woman of the group, alongside Monet, Degas, Renoir, Pissarro, and Sisley. Likewise, she was heralded by the greatest writers of her time ; in this tribute to Morisot, an anthology of citations from Paul Valéry, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Jean Cocteau offers an intimate portrait of the artist and her work. Morisot’s paintings demonstrate how far ahead of her time she was when she created them, pioneering a new style of painting, and yet her work would remain underestimated for more than a century.

Featuring previously unpublished correspondence with key members of the impressionist movement, this volume showcases the life and oeuvre of the influential artist and focuses on the important stages in Morisot’s career, including her first participation in the Salon de Paris in 1864 at the age of twenty-three, her marriage in 1874 to Eugène, Manet’s brother, and the birth of their daughter, Julie Manet, who became the subject of many of Morisot’s subsequent paintings.