Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

Berthe Morisot

Wonderful Female Painters

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Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

Woman at her Toilette (1880)

Berthe is the great impressionist female painter. She was the protagonist of the movement that revolutionized painting at a time when it was still difficult for women to be recognized without the interference of gender prejudice.

Despite being a bourgeois lady, she decided to devote herself to art as a disciple of Camille Corot (an important landscape painter of the Barbizon School, a group that painted outdoors and had a great influence on Impressionism).

And when she decided to dedicate herself to art, she took the courageous position of not doing it as a “hobby” or as an amateur, like other ladies of the time. And that is how she made her way.

Although she got married to Eugène Manet, it is known that she was in love with his brother Edouard, one of the most important artists in the history of modern painting. It was she who convinced Edouard to paint outdoors and to approach the group of painters who initiated Impressionism.

Her figures are often introspective and melancholic, delicate and at the same time full of life. This painting is a very clear example of this.

In her painting, we generally appreciate Berthe’s admiration for Renoir’s work, the luminous freshness of her palette, the free and vigorous brushstrokes, and, as always, the poetic atmosphere, one of the qualities for which she is most admired.

Recommended links:

Women of the Impressionism.

Characteristic elements of Impressionist painting, each with an example.

Timeline: from Neoclassicism till the end of the 19th century.

The First Impressionist Exhibition (1874).

Monet’s path to Impressionism.

The First Series of Monet.

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