1880, Berthe Morisot, Boats on the Seine -- Wallraf-Richartz Museum (Cologne)
From the museum label: We are looking at a peaceful stretch of the banks of the Seine. A few fishing-boats seem just to be waiting for someone to use them. The human beings who would presumably use them, though, are almost entirely banished from the picture; there are no busy goings-on to disturb the effect of the landscape. The liveliness of the depiction is generated solely by the painterly technique. The painter is also playing with our imagination: parts of the motif are cropped by the edge of the picture, and we are inexorably tempted to complete them in our mind's eye. In this way, Morisot awakens our interest and enhances the effect beyond the actual dimensions of the picture.
1880, Berthe Morisot, Boats on the Seine -- Wallraf-Richartz Museum (Cologne)
From the museum label: We are looking at a peaceful stretch of the banks of the Seine. A few fishing-boats seem just to be waiting for someone to use them. The human beings who would presumably use them, though, are almost entirely banished from the picture; there are no busy goings-on to disturb the effect of the landscape. The liveliness of the depiction is generated solely by the painterly technique. The painter is also playing with our imagination: parts of the motif are cropped by the edge of the picture, and we are inexorably tempted to complete them in our mind's eye. In this way, Morisot awakens our interest and enhances the effect beyond the actual dimensions of the picture.