Morisot, Berthe (1841-1895)
La Fille de l’artiste, Julie, avec sa nounou (The Artist’s Daughter, Julie, with her Nanny)
c.1884
Oil on canvas, 57.15 x 71.12 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis
Berthe Morisot’s daughter, Julie Manet, watches closely as her nanny does needlework. The little girl and her caregiver are absorbed by the stitching of the needle into the fabric, a process that recalls setting a paintbrush to canvas. Through both the subject of the painting and the lively, diagonal brushwork, Morisot calls attention to the process of making. The daughter of one of the grandes dames, or great ladies, of Impressionism and niece of the painter Édouard Manet, Julie was raised in a circle of Impressionist painters that included Edgar Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. She was orphaned at the age of 16 but remained close to those artists and became an accomplished painter in her own right. (MIA)
See also:
• Manet, Julie (1878-1966)