Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets
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| Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets | |
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| French: Berthe Morisot au bouquet de violettes | |
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| Artist | Édouard Manet |
| Year | 1872 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Subject | Berthe Morisot |
| Dimensions | 55.5 cm × 40.5 cm (21.9 in × 15.9 in) |
| Location | Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
| Accession | 100102 |
Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets (
Background
Manet became acquainted with
Manet had remained in Paris during the
This painting was one of several portraits of a black-clad Morisot by Manet between 1872 and 1874: others show her with a pink shoe, with a fan, and veiled.
Description
The half-length portrait is on a canvas measuring 55.5 × 40.5 centimetres (21.9 × 15.9 in)[1] – 71.5 × 57.5 centimetres (28.1 × 22.6 in) with frame[1] – and is signed "Manet 72" in the upper right corner. It is a study in shades of black. Unusually for Manet's portraits, which typically have an even light, Morisot is lit from one side, so that she is brightly illuminated on her right side and the left is in deep shadow. She wears black mourning dress and hat, with her face surrounded by black ribbons and scarves, against a lighter background, and an earring in each ear. The violet flowers are barely perceptible where the neckline of Morisot's dress dips towards her chest. Manet also painted violets in his Woman with a Parrot of 1866.
Manet painted Morisot with black eyes, although her eyes were actually green. The dark costume and eyes may allude to Manet's impression that she looked Spanish. Manet had earlier painted a similar portrait of his own mother in mourning, made in 1863, which shows his mother clad in black, on a dark background.
The painting was followed by a similar etching – probably the first copy, with the pose reversed – and two lithographs, all made in 1872 to 1874. Manet made a similar painting of Morisot in mourning dress in 1874, after the death of her father, Edmé Tiburce Morisot.
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Etching -
Lithograph -
Lithograph -
Berthe Morisot in mourning, 1874, private collection
Reception
The work was quickly considered a masterpiece of Manet's work. It was praised by
Manet sold or gave the painting to collector and art critic
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Woman with a Parrot, 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York -
The Balcony, 1868, Musée d'Orsay, Paris -
Berthe Morisot (The rest), 1869, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence -
Berthe Morisot with pink shoes, 1872, Hiroshima Museum of Art -
Berthe Morisot reclining, 1873, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris -
Berthe Morisot with a Fan, 1874, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille
See also
References
- ^ a b "Berthe Morisot au bouquet de violettes" [Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets]. Notice de l'œuvre (in French). Musée d'Orsay. 2006. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
- "Edouard Manet Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet". Musee d'Orsay. 2006. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
- "Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet of Violets". Google Art Project. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
- Cumming, Laura (2016-01-26). "Manet: Portraying Life – review". The Observer. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
- Locke, Nancy (2001). Manet and the Family Romance. Princeton, N.J: ISBN 9780691114842.
- "Portrait of Madame Auguste Manet". Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
External links
Media related to Berthe Morisot with Bouquet of Violets (Édouard Manet - Musée d'Orsay) at Wikimedia Commons
