Femme à sa toilette, c1875-80
Berthe Morisot
Oil on canvas
Morisot, touched by the detail of a neck reflected in a mirror seen in many of Boucher's portraits, made it the main subject of this painting.
In the bright light of her bedroom, around her Louis XVI bed with straight backs upholstered in pale fabrics, she painted a portrait on the back, illuminated like "a real pearl," as Emile Zola described it, "in which the greys and whites of the fabrics play a very delicate symphony".*
From the exhibition
Berthe Morisot and the Art of the 18th Century
(18 October 2023 to 3 March 2024)
Morisot's work, which flourished mainly in the 19th century, reflects a fascination with modern life. However, many during her lifetime drew parallels between her work and that of the great French masters of the 18th century. It's no coincidence that Renoir described her as "the last elegant, feminine artist we've had since Fragonard". Paul Girard, at the artist's posthumous retrospective in 1896, had no hesitation in asserting: "This is the eighteenth century modernized".
The exhibition at the Musée Marmottan Monet focuses on this idea, presenting a series of carefully selected works. It invites us to discover the imprint of the eighteenth century on Morisot's work, juxtaposing her emblematic paintings with those of major figures such as Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard and Perronneau. A unique opportunity to understand the resonances between Impressionism and the Age of Enlightenment, and to plunge into the rich and complex world of Berthe Morisot.
[*Musée Marmottan Monet]
Taken in Musée Marmottan Monet
The mansion built for François Christophe Edmond Kellermann, duke of Valmy, who purchased the land (formerly a pleasure garden) in 1863; in 1882 it was sold to Jules Marmottan, inherited by his son Paul Marmottan in 1883. Marmottan decorated the building in the Empire style ("Le Style Empire"), bequeathing it and his collection to Académie des Beaux-Arts, on his death in 1932. Between 1940-7 Victorine Donop de Monchy donated her father's collection of Impressionist painting and then, in 1966, more than 100 Monets (including a number of large Water Lilies) were bequeathed by Michel Monet (son of Claude Monet).
In the 16th arrondissement
The mansion built for François Christophe Edmond Kellermann, duke of Valmy, who purchased the land (formerly a pleasure garden) in 1863; in 1882 it was sold to Jules Marmottan, inherited by his son Paul Marmottan in 1883. Marmottan decorated the building in the Empire style ("Le Style Empire"), bequeathing it and his collection to Académie des Beaux-Arts, on his death in 1932. Between 1940-7 Victorine Donop de Monchy donated her father's collection of Impressionist painting and then, in 1966, more than 100 Monets (including a number of large Water Lilies) were bequeathed by Michel Monet (son of Claude Monet).
In the 16th arrondissement
Femme à sa toilette, c1875-80
Berthe Morisot
Oil on canvas
Morisot, touched by the detail of a neck reflected in a mirror seen in many of Boucher's portraits, made it the main subject of this painting.
In the bright light of her bedroom, around her Louis XVI bed with straight backs upholstered in pale fabrics, she painted a portrait on the back, illuminated like "a real pearl," as Emile Zola described it, "in which the greys and whites of the fabrics play a very delicate symphony".*
From the exhibition
Berthe Morisot and the Art of the 18th Century
(18 October 2023 to 3 March 2024)
Morisot's work, which flourished mainly in the 19th century, reflects a fascination with modern life. However, many during her lifetime drew parallels between her work and that of the great French masters of the 18th century. It's no coincidence that Renoir described her as "the last elegant, feminine artist we've had since Fragonard". Paul Girard, at the artist's posthumous retrospective in 1896, had no hesitation in asserting: "This is the eighteenth century modernized".
The exhibition at the Musée Marmottan Monet focuses on this idea, presenting a series of carefully selected works. It invites us to discover the imprint of the eighteenth century on Morisot's work, juxtaposing her emblematic paintings with those of major figures such as Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard and Perronneau. A unique opportunity to understand the resonances between Impressionism and the Age of Enlightenment, and to plunge into the rich and complex world of Berthe Morisot.
[*Musée Marmottan Monet]
Taken in Musée Marmottan Monet
The mansion built for François Christophe Edmond Kellermann, duke of Valmy, who purchased the land (formerly a pleasure garden) in 1863; in 1882 it was sold to Jules Marmottan, inherited by his son Paul Marmottan in 1883. Marmottan decorated the building in the Empire style ("Le Style Empire"), bequeathing it and his collection to Académie des Beaux-Arts, on his death in 1932. Between 1940-7 Victorine Donop de Monchy donated her father's collection of Impressionist painting and then, in 1966, more than 100 Monets (including a number of large Water Lilies) were bequeathed by Michel Monet (son of Claude Monet).
In the 16th arrondissement
The mansion built for François Christophe Edmond Kellermann, duke of Valmy, who purchased the land (formerly a pleasure garden) in 1863; in 1882 it was sold to Jules Marmottan, inherited by his son Paul Marmottan in 1883. Marmottan decorated the building in the Empire style ("Le Style Empire"), bequeathing it and his collection to Académie des Beaux-Arts, on his death in 1932. Between 1940-7 Victorine Donop de Monchy donated her father's collection of Impressionist painting and then, in 1966, more than 100 Monets (including a number of large Water Lilies) were bequeathed by Michel Monet (son of Claude Monet).
In the 16th arrondissement