Berthe Morisot

Against her parent’s wishes and the ideals of the times Morisot set out to find her own tutor who could teach her properly and support her decision to enter the arts. Eventually Morisot befriended painter Manet and history had begun. Manet took Morisot in, determined to teach her properly where her previous training had ended. Morisot soon fell into the company of the Impressionists, who also, unlike the Academie, the high class art society of Paris at the time, accepted her as a worthy peer and fellow artist. This influential woman seems to have succeeded where Manet’s other younger friends failed. It is only after Manet and Morisot meet that we see Manet’s style becoming determinedly more impressionistic.

Many of Morisot’s works are domestic in theme, often portraying women and children. One such work is Morisot’s Girl with a Fan. A young girl sits in a chair, fan held open in her lap. She looks down and slightly to the right, her attention completely captured by something happening that we cannot see. This painting, as all her others, is done in the loose Impressionist style that was growing in popularity at the time. Morisot was one of the most far reaching of the Impressions as far as style was concerned. Her Impressionistic style pushed the boundaries of what Impressionism was. For example, Morisot’s Portrait of Berthe Morisot and Her Daughter, while an oil painting, has elements of a sketch, Impressionism, and touches on the boundaries of abstraction.