The genius of female brushstrokes

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[ ART ON BOARD ]

THE GENIUS OF FEMALE BRUSHSTROKES Rediscovering Berthe Morisot, the Impressionist painter who combined innovation with 18th-century elegance by Micaela Zucconi

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Left, Berthe Morisot, “Au Bal”, 1875, oil on canvas. Paris, musée Marmottan Monet, ©musée Marmottan Monet. Above, B.M., “Repos (jeune fille endormie)”, 1892, oil on canvas. Coll. particulière, ©Thierry Jacob. Below, B.M., “Jeune Femme arrosant un arbuste”, 1876, oil on canvas. Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Coll. of Monsieur et Madame Paul Mellon, ©Katherina Wetzel/ Virginia Mus. of Fine Arts. Opening, B.M., “Jeune Femme au divan”, 1885, oil on canvas,

O

ver the past ten years in-depth research has finally been carried

London, Tate Gallery, ©London, Tate

out on the subject of Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), whose status as the leading female Impressionist painter is now emphasised

by a series of exhibitions. One of these is a show at London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery, previously hosted at the Musée d’Orsay and then, in 2010, at the Fondation Beyeler in the context of an exhibition dedicated to female artists who have had a great influence on modern painting. The Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris welcomed it in 2021 as part of an exhibition dedicated to her daughter Julie Manet, held until 31st March 2024. The exhibition entitled Berthe Morisot et l’art du XVIIIe siècle. Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Perronneau is an in-depth investigation of the painter’s life and work, highlighting an aesthetic theme inspired by famous 18th-century painters but expressed through the sensibilities of her time. This seems to be linked to the friendship between her family (her father, Tiburce Morisot, was a civil servant who played an important role in the creation of the Limoges museums) and the Reseniers, an artistic dynasty descended from Jean-Henri Riesener, a great 18th-century cabinet maker. Berthe was a friend of Rosalie, daughter of the artist Léon Resenier, who influenced Berthe and directed her especially towards Antoine Watteau and François Boucher. Morisot was also influenced by other artists of the same period like Jean-Honoré Fragonard (once said to be her great grandfather, although this claim has since been discredited), Maurice Quentin Delatour and Jean-Baptiste Perronneau. Immersed in an intensely artistic environment, Berthe became a friend of the painter Édouart Manet and married his brother Eugene. This was the world in 101


[ ART ON BOARD ] Rosalie Riesener (1843-1913), ‘’Fêtes italiennes’’, oil on paper ( after 1846), from François Boucher (1703-1770). Saint-Germain-deLivet, Chateau-musée. © Pȏle Museal de la Communauté d’Agglomération Lisieux Normandie/Christian Baraja SLB. Below, left, Berthe Morisot, after François Boucher (1703-1770), “Vénus va demander des armes à Vulcain”, 1884, oil on canvas. Coll. particulière, ©Christian Baraja SLB. Right, Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), “Les Plaisirs du bal”, c. 1715-1717, oil on canvas, London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, ©Dulwich Picture Gallery

which she developed as an artist. One curious fact is that at the Resenier

exhibition – one of these is the fan that belonged to Berthe and appeared

home she was painted by painter and sculptor Adèle d’Affry, known as

in the painting. Other important works on display are Jeune femme

“Marcello”, the duchess Castiglione-Colonna (the painting is included in

arrosant un arbuste and Femme en gris debout, as well as drawings by

the show). Curated by Marianne Mathieu and Dominique d’Arnoult with

Watteau and Fragonard, whose work La Leçon de musique is also present.

Claire Gooden, the exhibition brings together for the first time 65 works

The section dedicated to Morisot’s “triumphant impressionism” includes

from a number of important institutions including the Louvre, Wallace

Femme à sa toilette, Jeune femme au divan, Le jardin à Bougival and also

Collection, Tate and several private collections. The curating team had

Vénus va demander ses armes à Vulcain, copied with an Impressionist

also drawn on largely untapped resources – articles and correspondence

eye from the work by François Boucher, now held in the Louvre, which

by the artist and her husband. One of the masterpieces on display is Au bal

the artist displayed in her home. In the words of the poet Mallarmé when

(1875), one of Berthe Morisot’s most emblematic works. It is considered to

writing about Berthe Morisot’s paintings, her work reveals “a touch of

be an illustration of a typically French art de vivre, a legacy of the Age of

the 18th century exalted by the present”. Her works have come under the

Enlightenment, which exerted a deep influence on the haute bourgeoisie

hammer 920 times, and according to Artprice, Morisot is 366th in the

that the painter was a part of. A series of objects is also included in the

world rankings of the artists sold most frequently at auction.

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Top, Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), “Femme à sa toilette”, c. 1875-1880, oil on canvas. Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Stickney fund. © Chicago, The Art Institute, courtesy The Art Institute. Bottom, left, Marcello (Adèle d’Affry, duchess of Castiglione-Colonna, 1836-1879), 1875. Oil on canvas, Fribourg, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (MAHF), ©Primula Bosshard. Berthe Morisot, “Le Jardin à Bougival”, 1884, oil on canvas. Paris, Musée Marmottan Monet. © musée Marmottan Monet

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