Berthe Morisot: The Impressionist Trailblazer Who Painted in Light and Defied Convention
Before Frida donned a flower crown, before Georgia picked up a brush in the desert, there was Berthe Morisot, a Parisian woman painting soft sunlight, motherhood, and fleeting glances with brushstrokes that shimmered like silk. She was the only woman to exhibit in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, and she did it all while critics whispered and society men raised their monocles.
Born in 1841 into an upper-middle-class French family, Berthe Morisot was expected to marry well, throw tasteful soirées, and leave the oil paints to the men. Instead, she became one of the original rebels of Impressionism, alongside Monet, Degas, Renoir, and (most intimately) Édouard Manet, whose brother she eventually married.
But don’t let the family ties fool you, Morisot was a force in her own right.
Anecdote #1: Her Work Was Once Attributed to a Man—Because It Was Too Good
At a 1874 exhibition, a critic remarked that one painting “was perhaps the most delicate in the show”—but surely, he reasoned, a man must have painted it. Surprise! It was Morisot’s work. Her refined, airy brushstrokes, once dismissed as “feminine”, are now recognized as vital to the core of Impressionism.
“Real painters understand with a brush in their hand,” Morisot once said. And she knew what she was doing.
Morisot’s Style: Painting the Unseen Moments
Berthe Morisot’s works are like visual sighs, gentle, fleeting, and intimate. She didn’t go for grand historical scenes or idealized nudes. Instead, she painted her world: mothers and daughters, women at their toilette, girls gazing out of windows, and gardens soaked in sunshine.
Her technique was revolutionary: light, loose brushwork, often on unprimed canvas, capturing not the object, but the impression it left behind. Yes, she lived up to the name Impressionist.
Unlike some of her male peers, Morisot painted almost exclusively from her domestic sphere, but with no less intensity or innovation.
Anecdote #2: She Outsold Renoir in Her Lifetime
That’s right—while critics sometimes scorned her femininity, collectors knew talent when they saw it. Berthe Morisot’s works commanded serious prices, often more than Renoir’s during her life.
She was never just “the woman among the Impressionists.” She was a pillar of the movement.
Famous Friends, Fierce Talent
Morisot’s artistic circle reads like the guest list to the most fantastic art salon ever. She was close friends with Édouard Manet, who painted her multiple times (his portraits of her are some of his most famous). She later married his younger brother, Eugène, which helped cement her place in the Parisian art world; however, she never needed the connection to stand on her own.
Manet once said: “No one represents Impressionism with more refined talent than Morisot.”
Coming from Manet, that’s saying something.
Her Most Famous Paintings (With Links and Where to See Them)
- “The Cradle” (1872)
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
A tender portrayal of her sister Edma watching over her sleeping baby. It’s a quiet masterpiece of maternal intimacy.
2. “Summer’s Day” (1879)
National Gallery, London
Two elegant women boating on the lake in the Bois de Boulogne—Impressionism at its most graceful.
3.“The Artist’s Sister at a Window” (1869)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
A quietly powerful painting of solitude and longing, with Edma once again as the subject.
4, “Reading” (c. 1873)
Cleveland Museum of Art
A young woman absorbed in a book, bathed in sunlight. A quiet celebration of leisure and thought.
View here: Cleveland Museum – Reading
Anecdote #3: She Never Waited for Permission
In an era when women needed chaperones just to walk down the street, Morisot was out sketching, painting en plein air, and submitting to the Salon by age 23. She was also the only woman included in all but one of the eight Impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886.
Even when raising her daughter Julie, she continued to paint, often using her as a model. Many of her later works show Julie in moments of introspection, growing up within and around her mother’s artistic world.
Julie Manet Rouart, daughter and only child of artist Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet
Quotes to Remember Her By
“It is important to express oneself… provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience.” – Berthe Morisot
“She brings a breath of feminine grace to Impressionism,” said Paul Valéry (her son-in-law and famed writer).
Fun Fact: She Kept Her Signature Boldly Visible
While some women were encouraged to use initials or ambiguous signatures, Berthe signed her works B. Morisot with bold confidence. No hiding here.
Legacy: From Overlooked to Revered
After her early death in 1895 at the age of 54, Morisot’s name faded somewhat as her male contemporaries gained fame. But today, exhibitions and scholars are finally placing her where she belongs, among the greats of modern art.
Recent retrospectives at the Musée Marmottan Monet and the Barnes Foundation have reintroduced audiences to her luminous vision and relentless spirit.
She painted what she knew, and she painted it with astonishing grace, daring, and originality.
Coming up Next: Hilma af Klint: The Mystical Matriarch of Abstract Art
References (All Public Domain or Copyright-Free Sources):
- Wikipedia – Berthe Morisot
- Musée d’Orsay – The Cradle
- National Gallery London – Summer’s Day
- National Gallery of Art – Artist’s Sister at a Window
- Smarthistory – Berthe Morisot Overview
- Barnes Foundation – Berthe Morisot Exhibition
