Artwork Page for Young Saint John

Details / Information for Young Saint John

Young Saint John

1890

Berthe Morisot

(French, 1841–1895)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
pastel on pale blue laid paper
Measurements
57.1 x 38.1 cm (22 1/2 x 15 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Lewis B. Williams 1975.83
Catalogue raisonné
Bataille and Wildenstein 558; Angoulvent 410
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

This pastel's first owner was Berthe Morisot's daughter, Julie Manet, and her husband Ernest Rouart.

Description

In the spring of 1890 Berthe Morisot and her husband, Eugène Manet, rented a house with a garden overlooking the Seine River in the rural French town of Mézy. Morisot worked in the attic studio while the pair was there. A young boy from the village served as the model for this pastel, one of several studies for a full-length painting of Saint John the Baptist with his cross. In this drawing, Morisot developed the loose and sketchy marks that would characterize her final canvas.
A vertically oriented pastel drawing on light tan paper depicts Young Saint John, a child with a light skin tone, his cheeks and arms highlighted in pink, shown from the waist up facing our right. He has short blond hair and wears a textured, off-white wrap marked with dark gray hatching. His hands are clasped at his waist. Behind him, scribbled blue pastel strokes form a background around his head and shoulders.

Young Saint John

1890

Berthe Morisot

(French, 1841–1895)
France, 19th century

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