''Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets'' () is an 1872 oil painting by

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

. It depicts fellow painter Berthe Morisot dressed in black

mourning dress Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

, with a barely visible bouquet of violets. The painting, sometimes known as ''Portrait of Berthe Morisot'', ''Berthe Morisot in a black hat'' or ''Young woman in a black hat'', is in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Manet also created an etching and two lithographs of the same composition.

Background

Manet became acquainted with Berthe Morisot in 1868. She was the grand-niece of Fragonard, and also a painter; Morisot and Manet influenced each other's work. He painted her portrait many times, including his earlier work ''

The Balcony ''The Balcony'' (french: Le Balcon) is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It is set in an unnamed city that is experiencing a revolutionary uprising in the streets; most of the action takes place in an upmarket brothel that functions as a ...

''. She married Manet's brother Eugène in 1874. Manet had remained in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71, and served in the

Garde Nationale The National Guard (french: link=no, Garde nationale) is a French military, gendarmerie, and police reserve force, active in its current form since 2016 but originally founded in 1789 during the French Revolution. For most of its history th ...

to defend the city in the Siege of Paris. He was unable to paint while he was serving, and left Paris after the city surrendered at the end of January 1871. He returned to painting later in 1871, and returned to Paris after the defeat of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

in May 1871. 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 – with frame – 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. Édouard Manet Portrait-de-Berthe-M.-original-etching.jpg, Etching Édouard Manet - Berthe Morisot - Lithograph, 1872, H 73.jpg, Lithograph Édouard Manet - Berthe Morisot - Lithograph, 1872, H 74.jpg, Lithograph File:Édouard Manet - Berthe Morisot in mourning.jpg, ''Berthe Morisot in mourning'', 1874, private collection

Reception

The work was quickly considered a masterpiece of Manet's work. It was praised by

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, mus ...

in the catalogue of Manet's retrospective at the

Orangerie An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

in 1932 for the centenary of his birth. Valéry knew the painting well: he was married to Morisot's niece, Jeannie Gobillard, the daughter of Morisot's sister Yves and her husband Theodore Gobillard, and so he also related by marriage to Manet; indeed, his wedding in 1900 was a double celebration at the same time as the marriage of Morisot's daughter Julie Manet to Ernest Rouart. Valéry compared Manet's painting to

Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...

's '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'': "I do not rank anything in Manet's work higher than a certain portrait of Berthe Morisot dated 1872". Manet sold or gave the painting to collector and art critic Théodore Duret. Morisot herself acquired the painting in 1894, paying 5,100 francs in the sale of Duret's collection. After her death in 1895, it was kept by her daughter Julie until her own death in 1966, and then it was in the collection of her son (Morisot's grandson) Clément Rouart. It was acquired for the Musée d'Orsay in 1998, with funding from the Fonds du Patrimoine, the Meyer Foundation, the

China Times The ''China Times'' (, abbr. ) is a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Taiwan. It is one of the four largest newspapers in Taiwan. It is owned by Want Want, which also owns TV stations CTV and CTiTV. History The ''China Times'' was fo ...

Group and a sponsorship programme coordinated by the Japanese ''The Nikkei'' newspaper. Édouard Manet - Young Lady in 1866 - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Woman with a Parrot'', 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Edouard Manet - The Balcony - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Balcony'', 1868, Musée d'Orsay, Paris Édouard Manet - Le repos.jpg, ''Berthe Morisot (The rest)'', 1869, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence Édouard Manet - Berthe Morisot au soulier rose.jpg, ''Berthe Morisot with pink shoes'', 1872, Hiroshima Museum of Art Edouard Manet - Portrait de Berthe Morisot étendue, 1873.jpg, ''Berthe Morisot reclining'', 1873, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris Berthe Morisot Manet Lille 2918.jpg, ''Berthe Morisot with a Fan'', 1874, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille

References

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External links

* {{Berthe Morisot 1872 paintings 19th-century portraits Paintings in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay Morisot Portraits of women