093

  • Young Woman and Child in a Garden

  • ca. 1888-94
  • Berthe Morisot (French 1841-1895)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 35.9 x 21.7 cm., 14-1/8 x 8-9/16" sight
  • Lent Courtesy of Private Collection in Honor of Patricia Carter Deveau through Catherine Carter Goebel, Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts

Essay by Ellen Hay, Former Professor of Communication Studies

This painting attributed to Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) is signed "BM" which was often the way Morisot acknowledged her smaller works. The subjects closely resemble those in other Morisot paintings such as Young Woman and Child on the Isle (1888) and Young Woman and Child Avenue DuBois (1894). Stylistically, the painting includes many of the elements typical of Impressionism. Morisot incorporates the plein-air technique that she first learned as a pupil of recognized landscapist Camille Corot.

The short, full brushstrokes establish an immediacy to the piece, while the size of the subjects in relation to the surroundings pulls the viewer close to them. The conversational moment is created as the woman with the wispy veil on her stylish hat bends toward the child. The facial features of the child are not clearly articulated, suggestive of the viewer's brief glance at the two. The pops of yellow and red, and the vibrant green background illustrate the Impressionist interest in bright color.

Everyday domestic life was frequently captured in Morisot's work, scenes suitable to a woman artist of her social class and time, and typical for Impressionists who wanted to avoid the more iconic images of the Academy. Morisot often used friends and family as subjects for her work, featuring harmonious scenes in parks and countryside. Even though widely exhibited and acclaimed, Morisot was often categorized, as were other women of the era, as an amateur. With her first solo exhibit in 1892, and the 1894 purchase of Young Woman in a Ball Gown by the French government for display at Luxembourg Palace, Morisot was able to shed this label and is today recognized as one of the leading artists of the movement.