The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 14, 2025

Young Saint John

1890
(French, 1841–1895)
France, 19th century
pastel on pale blue laid paper
57.1 x 38.1 cm (22 1/2 x 15 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Lewis B. Williams 1975.83
Catalogue raisonné: Bataille and Wildenstein 558; Angoulvent 410
Location: not on view

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.
  • after 1896
    Mr. [1874–1942] and Mrs. [1878–1966] Ernest Rouart, Paris
    1896
    (Durand-Ruel, Paris)
    1896-by 1929
    Private collection
    by 1929-1975
    Mr. [1880–1966] and Mrs. [1879–1980] Lewis B. Williams, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    1975-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Berthe Morisot, exposition de son œuvre. Exh. cat. Paris: Durand-Ruel, 1896. Mentioned: p. 30, no. 184
    “Studio-Talk,” The Studio 42 (1908): 318-20. Reproduced: p. 318
    Fourreau, Armand. Berthe Morisot. Paris: F. Rieder, 1925. Mentioned: p. 25; Reproduced: pl. 27
    Angoulvent, Monique. Berthe Morisot. Paris: Albert Morancé, 1933. Mentioned: p. 138, no. 410
    Bataille, M.-L. and G. Wildenstein. Berthe Morisot: Catalogue des peintures, pastels, et aquarelles. Paris: Beaux-Arts, 1961. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 58, no. 558
    Stuckey, Charles F. “Berthe Morisot.” In Charles F. Stuckey, Willam P. Scott, and Suzanne G. Lindsay. Berthe Morisot: Impressionist. Exh. cat. South Hadley, MA: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, 1987. Mentioned: p. 145
    Shennan, Margaret. Berthe Morisot: First Lady of Impressionism. Phoenix Mill, UK: Sutton, 1996. Mentioned: p. 15
    Salsbury, Britany. “Nineteenth-Century French Drawings: Acquiring the now-on-view Cleveland collection.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 63, no. 1 (2023): 8-9. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 9. archive.org
  • Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-June 11, 2023).
    Pure Color: Pastels from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2016-March 19, 2017).
    Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 7, 1993-January 2, 1994).
    Berthe Morisot, exposition de son œuvre. Durand-Ruel, Paris (March 5–21, 1896).
    French Art Since Eighteen Hundred. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 8-December 8, 1929).
  • {{cite web|title=Young Saint John|url=false|author=Berthe Morisot|year=1890|access-date=14 May 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.83