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Reading

1873
(French, 1841–1895)
France, 19th century
oil on fabric
Framed: 74.3 x 100.3 x 12.1 cm (29 1/4 x 39 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 46 x 71.8 cm (18 1/8 x 28 1/4 in.)
Gift of the Hanna Fund 1950.89
Location: On view at National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Sep 8, 2024 - Jan 20, 2025
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

The Impressionists were mostly men with a few notable exceptions, including Berthe Morisot. While Morisot's work includes many of the hallmarks of Impressionism, such as her loose brushwork, the subject matter of her paintings often reflects the social constraints of her gender. Her paintings often depicted domestic tableaux or images of her friends and family, such as this painting of her sister.

Description

The fashionable woman seated in the foreground is the artist's sister, Edma. However, the painting is not a portrait. Morisot's principal concern was to render a figure in a natural, outdoor environment. Edma's white dress—the prime vehicle for Morisot's study of reflected light—is saturated with delicate lavender, blue, yellow, and rose tonalities. Deftly executed with quick brushstrokes, the painting resounds with a feeling of freshness, vibrancy, and delicate charm. "Every day I pray that the Good Lord will make me like a child," Morisot wrote, "That is to say, that He will make me see nature and render it the way a child would, without preconceptions." Morisot, the great-granddaughter of the 18th-century French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, selected this painting as one of her four works shown in the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874.
Reading

Reading

1873

Berthe Morisot

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

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