{"id":1526,"date":"2026-05-22T17:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horscadre.paris\/berthe-morisot-the-painter-who-influenced-manets-work\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T22:43:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:43:43","slug":"berthe-morisot-the-painter-who-influenced-manets-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horscadre.paris\/en\/berthe-morisot-the-painter-who-influenced-manets-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Berthe Morisot \u2014 the painter who influenced Manet’s work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paris, April 15, 1874, the former studio of photographer Nadar, 35 Boulevard des Capucines.<\/strong> The group exhibition opening today will go down in history as the first Impressionist exhibition<\/strong>. Thirty artists are presenting their works there on the fringes of the official Salon. Among them are Claude Monet<\/strong>, Auguste Renoir<\/strong>, Camille Pissarro<\/strong>, Edgar Degas<\/strong>, Alfred Sisley<\/strong>, and<\/strong> Paul C\u00e9zanne<\/strong>. And there is only one woman<\/strong>: Berthe Morisot<\/strong>, thirty-three years old, who is exhibiting nine works, including *The Cradle*<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Today, more than 150 years later, Morisot is known to the general public\u2014but largely through the eleven portraits<\/strong> that \u00c9douard Manet painted of her between 1868 and 1874. The Balcony<\/em><\/strong>, Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets<\/em><\/strong>, Berthe Morisot with a Fan<\/em><\/strong>. Morisot\u2019s face has become one of the most famous faces<\/strong> in 19th-century French painting. But her own body of work\u2014her 416 paintings<\/strong>, 191 pastels, and 238 watercolors documented in the 1961 Bataille-Wildenstein catalog\u2014remains largely unknown to the general French-speaking public. <\/p>\n\n

This article reverses the perspective. It is not a portrait of the woman who posed for Manet. It is a portrait of the painter Morisot<\/strong> \u2014a student of Corot, whose work was exhibited at the Salon as early as 1864, the only woman among the founding members of Impressionism, a friend of Mallarm\u00e9, and the hostess of a Parisian salon where Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Pissarro. A major 19th-century artist<\/strong> whom art history has long reduced to a face painted by another. <\/p>\n\n

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Bourges, 1841 \u2014 The Childhood of a Cultured Bourgeois Woman<\/h2>\n\n

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot was born on January 14, 1841, in Bourges<\/strong>, in the Cher department. Her family belonged to the French administrative bourgeoisie<\/strong>. Her father, Edme-Tiburce Morisot<\/strong> (1806\u20131874), was then prefect of the Cher department<\/strong> \u2014he would end his career as a referendary counselor at the Court of Auditors. Her mother, Marie-Corn\u00e9lie Thomas<\/strong> (1819\u20131876), came from a family of paymasters-general. <\/p>\n\n

A frequently mentioned biographical detail: Berthe was the great-grandniece of the painter Jean-Honor\u00e9 Fragonard<\/strong> (1732\u20131806) on her mother\u2019s side. The genealogical link is genuine, but there is no direct artistic lineage\u2014Berthe never knew her great-uncle, who had died thirty-five years before her birth. Nevertheless, in 2023 the Marmottan Monet Museum<\/strong> dedicated an exhibition (\u201cBerthe Morisot and 18th-Century Art\u201d<\/em>) to the influence of 18th-century art\u2014Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Perronneau\u2014on Morisot\u2019s painting. <\/p>\n\n

Berthe was the third of four children<\/strong>: her older sisters Yves<\/strong> (1838\u20131893) and Edma<\/strong> (1839\u20131921), and her younger brother Tiburce<\/strong> (1848\u20131909). The three Morisot sisters<\/strong> remained close throughout their lives. Edma, in particular, was Berthe\u2019s confidante<\/strong> \u2014she also painted during the 1860s, exhibited at the Salon, and then gave up painting in 1869 upon her marriage to naval officer Adolphe Pontillon<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

In 1852<\/strong>, when Berthe was eleven years old, the family settled permanently in Paris<\/strong>, in the Passy<\/strong> neighborhood (now the 16th arrondissement). This elegant neighborhood would remain Berthe\u2019s home for the rest of her life\u2014she would live there, paint there, host her weekly salon there, and be buried there in the Passy Cemetery. <\/p>\n\n

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The Lineup \u2014 Chocarne, Guichard, Corot<\/h2>\n\n

At the age of sixteen<\/strong>, in 1857<\/strong>, Berthe and her sister Edma began taking drawing lessons<\/strong> under the guidance of Geoffroy-Alphonse Chocarne<\/strong> (1797\u20131859), a Neoclassical painter of the School of David. It was a traditional, austere training focused on copying the works of the old masters. <\/p>\n\n

The three Morisot sisters\u2014Yves, Edma, and Berthe\u2014stopped briefly to visit Joseph Guichard<\/strong> (1806\u20131880), a painter from Lyon who had trained under Ingres and Delacroix. Guichard immediately recognized the exceptional talent<\/strong> of Berthe and Edma. In 1857, he wrote this famous letter to their mother: <\/p>\n\n

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\u201cIn the upper-class circle in which you live, this will be a revolution\u2014I would almost call it a catastrophe. Are you sure you\u2019ll never curse the day when art, having entered your respectable and peaceful home, became the sole arbiter of the fate of two of your children?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\u2014 Joseph Guichard, letter to Marie-Corn\u00e9lie Morisot, 1857<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Marie-Corn\u00e9lie agreed. Berthe and Edma continued their training. In 1859\u20131860<\/strong>, the sisters set up their outdoor studio in Ville-d\u2019Avray<\/strong> under the guidance of Camille Corot<\/strong> (1796\u20131875), the undisputed master of mid-19th-century French landscape painting. Corot taught them plein air painting<\/strong>, the rendering of light<\/strong>, and direct observation of the subject. This training shaped Berthe\u2019s style for the rest of her life: a light palette, a free brushstroke, and light as a subject in its own right. <\/p>\n\n

Berthe made copies at the Louvre<\/strong> between 1858 and 1864\u2014works by Veronese, Rubens, and Titian. It was in these rooms at the Louvre, while copying a work by Rubens, that she had the life-changing encounter of her life in 1868<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

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1864\u20131867 \u2014 The First Salons<\/h2>\n\n

Berthe was twenty-three years<\/strong> old when she submitted her first two paintings to the official Salon of 1864<\/strong>. The two works\u2014 Old Road in Auvers<\/em><\/strong> and Memories of the Banks of the Oise<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 were accepted by the jury<\/strong>. She was listed in the catalog as \u201ca student of Joseph Guichard and Achille-Fran\u00e7ois Oudinot.\u201d<\/em> This marked her first official success. <\/p>\n\n

Berthe exhibited regularly at the Salon<\/strong> between 1864 and 1873\u2014seven consecutive Salons. The works she presented during this early period were primarily landscapes<\/strong> in the style of Corot, painted in Auvers-sur-Oise<\/strong> (where her family spent their summers beginning in 1863) and in the Parisian countryside. <\/p>\n\n

This early period was that of an established painter at the official Salon<\/strong> \u2014not that of a rebel or an outsider. Berthe Morisot followed the established path. She was respected by her male peers, notably by Henri Fantin-Latour<\/strong> (1836\u20131904), whom she met at the Louvre around 1861\u20131862 while he was copying the old masters. <\/p>\n\n

Fantin-Latour wasthe loyal friend<\/strong> who introduced Berthe to the circle of avant-garde Parisian painters. It was he who, in 1868<\/strong>, introduced her to\u00c9douard Manet<\/strong> \u2014an encounter that would change her artistic life. <\/p>\n\n

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1868 \u2014 Meeting Manet at the Louvre<\/h2>\n\n

It was Henri Fantin-Latour<\/strong> who introduced Berthe Morisot to \u00c9douard Manet in the spring<\/strong> of 1868<\/strong>, in a room at the Louvre<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Berthe is copying The Pilgrims of Emmaus<\/em><\/strong> by Peter Paul Rubens<\/strong> (1577\u20131640). Fantin-Latour walks past the room with Manet, spots Berthe, and introduces them. <\/p>\n\n

Berthe was twenty-seven<\/strong>; Manet was thirty-six<\/strong>. She was single; he had been married to Suzanne Leenhoff since 1863. Their encounter was immediately pivotal\u2014not romantically (commentators have long speculated about their relationship, but nothing in their correspondence suggests an affair), but artistically and intellectually<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Manet introduced Berthe to his Parisian artistic circle<\/strong>. She began frequenting the Caf\u00e9 Guerbois<\/strong> (on Avenue de Clichy), a gathering place for the future Impressionists\u2014Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Bazille, Degas, and Zola. She listened in on passionate conversations about modern painting. She met the generation that would transform French painting<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

This encounter also marked the beginning of the series of portraits<\/strong>. As early as the summer of 1868, Manet asked Berthe to pose for a painting he intended to exhibit at the 1869 Salon: it would be *The Balcony*<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

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The Eleven Portraits by Manet<\/h2>\n\n

Between 1868 and 1874<\/strong>, \u00c9douard Manet painted eleven portraits<\/strong> of Berthe Morisot. These eleven paintings have become major works<\/strong> of 19th-century French painting. <\/p>\n\n

The Balcony<\/em><\/strong> (1868\u20131869, Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay) is the first. Berthe is seated in the foreground, dressed in white, gazing intently at the viewer. Behind her are Fanny Claus<\/strong> (violinist and model) and Antoine Guillemet<\/strong> (landscape painter). The painting was exhibited at the 1869 Official Salon<\/strong> and caused a stir due to Berthe\u2019s frontal and silent presence<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets<\/em><\/strong> (1872, Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay) is probably his most famous portrait. Berthe is depicted from the waist up<\/strong>, dressed in black, wearing a black hat with feathers<\/strong>, and holding a bouquet of violets<\/strong> tucked into the neckline of her dress. Her gaze is intense, almost melancholic. Manet uses a limited palette, dominated by deep blacks. It<\/strong> is a tribute to Vel\u00e1zquez<\/strong> \u2014a painter whom Manet revered\u2014as much as it is to his model. <\/p>\n\n

Berthe Morisot with a Fan<\/em><\/strong> (1874, Mus\u00e9e des Beaux-Arts de Lille) depicts Berthe sitting, slightly leaning forward, a black fan half-open<\/strong> in her hand. Her face appears more at ease. Manet painted his sister-in-law\u2014for her marriage to Eug\u00e8ne Manet took place in December 1874. <\/p>\n\n

The other eight portraits<\/strong> are more intimate studies: *Berthe Morisot Reclining*<\/em> (1873), *Berthe Morisot Lying Down*<\/em> (1873, private collection), *Berthe Morisot with a Black Hat and Veil*<\/em> (1872), and several small portraits or sketches.<\/p>\n\n

This series also came to an abrupt end<\/strong> in 1874<\/strong> \u2014the year of her marriage. \u00c9douard painted no portraits of Berthe after her marriage to Eug\u00e8ne. Several theories have been put forward: a change in family status (Berthe had become his sister-in-law), deference to the new marriage, or simply a natural evolution in Manet\u2019s subject matter. Correspondence from that period offers no clear answer. <\/p>\n\n

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December 1874 \u2014 her marriage to Eug\u00e8ne Manet<\/h2>\n\n

Eug\u00e8ne Manet<\/strong> (1833\u20131892) was \u00c9douard\u2019s younger brother<\/strong>. Born on November 21, 1833, he was the second son of Judge Auguste Manet and Marie-Eug\u00e9nie D\u00e9sir\u00e9e Fournier. Eug\u00e8ne was two years older than Berthe<\/strong>. He, too, studied law. He, too, painted\u2014but without his older brother\u2019s passion or talent. He published a novel in 1889 (*Victimes*<\/em>), a testament to a life devoted more to writing and supporting his wife than to painting. <\/p>\n\n

Berthe and Eug\u00e8ne met through \u00c9douard<\/strong> in 1872\u20131873. Eug\u00e8ne was madly in love<\/strong> with Berthe almost from the moment they met. Berthe hesitated\u2014she was thirty-three, which<\/strong> was considered quite old for a first marriage at the time, and she had recently been mourning the loss of her father (who died in 1874). <\/p>\n\n

The wedding took place on December 22, 1874<\/strong>, at the Passy town hall and then at the Notre-Dame-de-Gr\u00e2ce church. It was a simple ceremony attended by family members. \u00c9douard Manet served as a witness. <\/p>\n\n

Eug\u00e8ne gave the couple his full support for Berthe\u2019s career<\/strong>. He did not hold her back in any way\u2014on the contrary, heactively encouraged<\/strong> her to continue painting. According to correspondence from that time, Eug\u00e8ne devoted a significant portion of his time to managing the<\/strong> household\u2019s practical affairs<\/strong> so that Berthe could paint freely. He even helped draft business correspondence<\/strong> with art dealers. <\/p>\n\n

This unconventional marriage for its time<\/strong> \u2014a husband who actively took a back seat to support his wife\u2019s career as an artist\u2014goes a long way toward explaining why Berthe Morisot was able to maintain a prolific body of work<\/strong> throughout her eighteen years of marriage.<\/p>\n\n

January 1875<\/strong>: The couple went on their honeymoon to England<\/strong>, tothe Isle of Wight<\/strong>. Berthe painted there Eug\u00e8ne Manet on the Isle of Wight<\/em><\/strong> (1875, Mus\u00e9e Marmottan Monet)\u2014one of her most famous portraits, and an exceptional historical symmetry<\/strong>: \u00c9douard Manet painted eleven portraits of Berthe, while Berthe painted Eug\u00e8ne. <\/p>\n\n

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April 1874 \u2014 the first Impressionist exhibition<\/h2>\n\n

Four months before her marriage to Eug\u00e8ne, in April 1874<\/strong>, Berthe Morisot made a decision that would prove pivotal to her artistic career. She agreed to participate in the \u201cSoci\u00e9t\u00e9 anonyme coop\u00e9rative d\u2019artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs\u201d<\/strong> \u2014the official name of what would go down in history as the first Impressionist exhibition<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

The exhibition opened on April 15, 1874<\/strong>, in the former studio of photographer Nadar<\/strong> at 35 Boulevard des Capucines. A total of 165 works<\/strong> by 30 artists<\/strong> were on display, including Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, C\u00e9zanne, Boudin<\/strong> \u2014and Berthe Morisot<\/strong>, the only woman<\/strong> among the founders.<\/p>\n\n

Berthe is exhibiting nine works<\/strong>, including:<\/p>\n\n