The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 29, 2025

Reading

1873

Berthe Morisot

(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: not on view

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.

During the most recent 2023 conservation treatment, yellowed varnish coatings were removed allowing the artist’s original colors and tonality to become visible. Advanced imaging including infrared reflectography (IRR) revealed changes Morisot made within the composition. This includes the sitter, Edma, initially being painted with her eyes open toward the viewer.
?
Édouard Daliphard, Poissy
By 1929-1932
Gabriel Thomas (1851-1932), Paris
?
Édouard Molyneux [1891-1974], Paris
Until 1950
(César de Hauke, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1950-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Provenance Footnotes
1 Daliphard, a landscape painter, was born in Rouen and studied with Gustave Morin and Joseph Quinaux. Salon catalogues throughout the 1860s and 1870s give his place of residence as Poissy. Little is known about his collection, and once the Morisot came into his possession, it appears to have disappeared from public view until the twentieth century. Sales of works in Daliphard’s collection on April 6, 1875 and March 4, 1876 do not contain the Morisot.
2 A 1929 exhibition lists Gabriel Thomas, Morisot’s first cousin, as the painting’s current owner. Thomas died in 1932, but he is still cited as the painting’s owner in Angoulvent’s 1933 catalogue of Morisot’s oeuvre.
Bodelsen, Merete. “Early Impressionist Sales 1874-94 in the light of some unpublished ‘procès-verbaux’,” Burlington Magazine CX, no. 783 (June 1968): 335.
Lindsay, Suzanne Glover. “Berthe Morisot: Nineteenth-Century Woman as Professional,” Perspectives on Morisot. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1990.
d'Argencourt, Louise, Roger Diederen, and Alisa Luxenberg. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.
Clairet, Alain, Delphine Montalant, and Yves Rouart. Berthe Morisot: 1841-1895 : Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Montolivet: CERA-nrs éd, 1998.
Bataille, Marie Louise, and Georges Wildenstein. Berthe Morisot: catalogue des peintures, pastels et aquarelles. Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, 1961.
Angoulvent, Monique. Berthe Morisot. [Paris]: A. Morancé, 1933.
d'Argencourt, Louise, Roger Diederen, and Alisa Luxenberg. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.
Bataille, Marie Louise, and Georges Wildenstein. Berthe Morisot: catalogue des peintures, pastels et aquarelles. Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, 1961.
Clairet, Alain, Delphine Montalant, and Yves Rouart. Berthe Morisot: 1841-1895 : Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Montolivet: CERA-nrs éd, 1998.
d'Argencourt, Louise, Roger Diederen, and Alisa Luxenberg. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.
Clairet, Alain, Delphine Montalant, and Yves Rouart. Berthe Morisot: 1841-1895 : Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Montolivet: CERA-nrs éd, 1998.
Boehn, Max von. Vom Kaiserreich zur Republik: eine französische Kulturgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts. 1917. Reproduced: no. 142
Fourreau, Armand. Berthe Morisot. Paris, France: F. Rieder, 1925. Reproduced: fig. 4
Fourreau, Armand, and Hubert Wellington. Berthe Morisot. New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1925. Reproduced: p. 39, fig. 4
Angoulvent, Monique. Berthe Morisot. Paris, France: A. Morancé, 1933.
Francis, Henry S. ""Sur la Falaise aux Petites Dales (Mme. Pontillon, Sister of the Artist)." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXVII, no. 10 (December 1950): 205-211. Reproduced: p. 207-210
Carnegie Institute. French Painting, 1100-1900. Pittsburgh, PA, 1951. Reproduced: p. 107
Milliken, William M. "Report for the Year 1950." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXVIII, no. 6 (June 1951): 153. Mentioned: p. 153
"Exhibition of Masterpieces Honoring Hazel Barker King" Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin 9, Oberlin, OH (1952). Reproduced: no. 6
Palais des beaux-arts (Brussels, Belgium). La femme dans l'art français, [Exposition] mars-mai, 1953. Reproduced: no. 95
Musée de l'Orangerie. De David à Toulouse-Lautrec; chefs-d'œuvres des collections américaines. Paris, france: [Presses artistiques], 1955. Reproduced: p. 20, no. 43, pl. 45
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Owned Paintings Will Go to France,” April 20, 1955, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 504 archive.org
Bataille, Marie Louise, and Georges Wildenstein. Berthe Morisot: catalogue des peintures, pastels et aquarelles. Paris, France: Les Beaux-Arts, 1961. Reproduced: no. 14
Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1961. Reproduced: p. 325
Bataille, Marie Louise, and Georges Wildenstein. Berthe Morisot: catalogue des peintures, pastels et aquarelles. Paris, France: Les Beaux-Arts, 1961.
Baltimore Museum of Art. Paintings, Drawings and Graphic Works by Manet, Degas, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt. Baltimore, MD: The Museum, 1962. Reproduced: no. 81
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 173 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 173 archive.org
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Past Rediscovered: French Painting, 1800-1900. Minneapolis, MN, 1969. Reproduced: no. 63
Muehsam, Gerd. French Painters and Paintings from the Fourteenth Century to Post-Impressionism. New York, NY: Ungar, 1970. Reproduced: p. 523
Petersen, Karen, and J. J. Wilson. Women Artists: Recognition and Reappraisal from the Early Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1976. Reproduced: p. 91
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 215 archive.org
Monneret, Sophie. L'impressionnisme et son époque: dictionnaire international illustré. Paris, France: Denoël, 1978. Reproduced: p. 1297, vol. 2
Phaidon Encyclopedia of Art and Artists. Oxford, United Kingdom: Phaidon, 1978. N31 .P48 1978 Reproduced: p. 460
Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. New York, NY: Abbeville Press, 1980. Reproduced: p. 139
Rey, Jean Dominique. Berthe Morisot. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1982. Reproduced: p. 12
Moffett, Charles S. The New Painting, Impressionism, 1874-1886: An Exhibition Organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco with the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Geneva, Switzerland: R. Burton, 1986. Reproduced: p. 121, no. 105, Mentioned: p. 132
Charles F. Stuckey, William P. Scott, and Suzanne G. Lindsay. Berthe Morisot, Impressionist. New York, N : Hudson Hills Press: Distributed in the U.S. by Rizzoli International Publications, 1987. Mentioned: 55-59; Reproduced: p. 61
Lucie-Smith, Edward. Impressionist Women. London: London, United Kingcom: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989. . Reproduced: p. 37, fig. 26
Cachin, Françoise, and Édouard Manet. Manet. Paris, France: Chêne, 1990. . Reproduced: in reverse
Witzling, Mara Rose. Voicing Our Visions: Writings by Women Artists. New York, NY: Universe, 1991. . Reproduced: p. 56
Nemett, Barry. Images, Objects, and Ideas: Viewing the Visual Arts. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1992.. Reproduced: p. 115, fig. 148
Takahashi, Akiya, and Chikashi Kitazaki. 1874 nen -- Pari: (dai ikkai inshōha ten) to sono jidai = Paris en 1874 : l'année de l'impressionnisme. Tōkyō, Japan: Yomiuri Shimbunsha, 1994. Reproduced: no. 33
Berson, Ruth. The New painting: impressionism, 1874-1886 : documentation. San Francisco, CA: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1996. . Reproduced: p. 25
Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico). Maestros del impresionismo. México, D.F.: Istituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1998. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 126-127
Johnston, Sona. Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. New York, NY : Rizzoli, 1999. Reproduced: p. 129, cat. no. 45
D'Argencourt, Louise and Roger Diederen. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue of Paintings, Part Four; European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 166
Goldin, Marco. La nascita dell'impressionismo. Conegliano, Italy: Linea d'ombra libri, 2000. Reproduced: p. 80
Jiminez, Jill Berk, and Joanna Banham. Dictionary of Artists' Models. London, United Kingdom: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001. . Reproduced: p. 433
Grandazzi, Josette. Berthe Morisot. Martigny, France: Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 2002. . Mentioned and reproduced: p. 130-131
Berthe Morisot, 1841-1895: Lille, Palais des beaux-arts, 10 mars-9 juin 2002, Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 20 juin-19 novembre 2002. Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2002. . Mentioned and reproduced: p. 130-131
Sakagami, Keiko. Beruto morizo: aru josei gaka no ikita kindai. Tōkyō, Japan: Shōgakukan, 2006. . Reproduced: p. 86
Brodskai︠a︡, N. V. Impressionism ; Post-Impressionism.New York, NY : Parkstone Press, 2007. Reproduced: p. 239
Inmann, Christiane. Forbidden Fruit: A History of Women and Books in Art. Munich, Germany ; New York, NY : Prestel, 2009. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 134-135
Mathieu, Marianne. Berthe Morisot: 1841-1895. 2012. Paris, France: Éditions Hazan, 2012. Reproduced: p. 23, fig 5; p. 75. fig. 10
Brown, Kathryn. Women Readers in French Painting 1870-1890: A Space for the Imagination. 2012. Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, 2012. Reproduced: p. 26, no. 1.5
Mathieu, Marianne. Berthe Morisot: 1841-1895. 2012. Paris, France : Éditions Hazan, 2012. Reproduced: p. 23, fig. 5; p. 75, fig. 10
Rubin, James Henry. How to Read Impressionism: Ways of Looking. Antwerp, Belgium: Ludion ; New York, NY: Abrams, 2013. . Reproduced: p. 229
Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展 : 名画でたどる日本の美 Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Reproduced: p. 132
Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, Frederick E. Bidwell, and Masato Matsushima. Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo, Japan: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. . Reproduced: p. 132, fig. 6
Wat, Pierre. "Procession des '-ismes' ou parade des individus? Comment s'ecrit l'histoire de l'art du XIX siecle." In L'art du XIXe siècle: l'heure de la modernité 1789-1914. Bertrand Tillier, 21-76. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2016. Reproduced: p. 60
Klein, Jacques-Sylvain. L'impressionnisme se lève en Normandie: 1820-1886. Rennes: Ouest-France, 2016. Reproduced: p. 130
Camplin, Jamie, and Maria Ranauro. The Art of Reading: An Illustrated History of Books in Paint. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Publications, 2018. Reproduced & Mentioned: p. 177
Berthe Morisot: Woman Impressionist. New York, NY: Rizzoli Electa; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: In association with the Barnes Foundation; Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art; Québec, Canada: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 2018. Reproduced: p. 70, cat. no. 20
Michael, Cora. "Gauguin in the the Buckeye and Hoosier States: Portrait of Teuraheimata and its Midwestern Collectors." In Paul Gauguin: Teuraheimata a Potoru, a Rediscovery, 11-19. New York: Jill Newhouse Gallery; [Akron, Ohio]: Thomas French Fine Art, 2019. Mentioned: P. 14
Toscano, Franca. "Previews & Reviews: Not-to-be-missed Shows this Month." Modern Painters: A Quarterly Journal of the Fine Arts 32, no. 6 (Summer 2019): 94-96. Reproduced: p. 95
Patry, Sylvie. Berthe Morisot. Paris: Flammarion: Musée d’Orsay, 2019. Reproduced: P. 60, no. 21
Cotentin, Régis. Wonder Women: Ni Muses, Ni Modèles: Artistes! Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 44-45
Morisot, Berthe. Berthe Morisot. Lyon: Fage Editions, 2019. Reproduced: P. 9
Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Picture Book No. 4 . [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952. Reproduced: p. 37, 38 archive.org
Patry, Sylvie, Anne Robbins, Kimberly A. Jones, Mary G. Morton, Musée d’Orsay, and National Gallery of Art (U.S.). Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment. Paris, Washington: Musée d’Orsay; National Gallery of Art, 2024. Reproduced: p. 158, no. 119
"Les 150 Ans de l'Impressionnisme." 藝術家.Yi shu jia 588 (May 2024): 82-95. Reproduced: p. 93
Overmars, Sterre. "Het Begin van het Moderne." Tableau 46, nr. 2 (Summer 2024): 26-31. Reproduced: p. 26-27; Mentioned p. 28-29
Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France (organizer) (co-organizer) (March 25-July 12, 2024) https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/whats-on/exhibitions/paris-1874-inventing-impressionism; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (September 8, 2024-January 20, 2025).
Berthe Morisot, Woman, Impressionist. Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (organizer) (June 21-September 23, 2018); The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA (October 20, 2018-January 14, 2019); The Dallas Museum of Art (February 24-May 26, 2019); Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France (June 17-September 22, 2019); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 20, 2019-January 20, 2020).
Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible. The Met Breuer, New York, NY (March 18-September 4, 2016).
Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014).
Berthe Morisot, Woman of our Time. Musée Marmottan Monet, 75016, Paris, France (organizer) (March 7-July 1, 2012).
Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
Rétrospective Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, Lille, France (organizer) (March 8-June 9, 2002); Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, Switzerland (June 20-November 19, 2002).
Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. The Baltimore Museum of Art (organizer) (October 10, 1999-January 30, 2000); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (March 25-May 7, 2000); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 28-July 30, 2000).
Masters of Impressionism. Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico (November 17, 1998-February 28, 1999).
Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 7, 1993-January 2, 1994).
Première Exposition. Société Anonyme. 35 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, France (1874).
Manet, Degas, Cassatt, and Berthe Morisot. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (April 17-June 3, 1962).
In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
French Painting 1100-1900. Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA (October 18-December 2, 1951).
Exposition d'oeuvres de Berthe Morisot. Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, France (1929).
Vom Kaiserreich zur Republik: eine französische Kulturgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Possibly, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland (1917).
Exposition d'oeuvres de Berthe Morisot. Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, France (1917).
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