From the 1860s to her untimely death in 1895, aged 54, from pneumonia, she was devoted to art. In a letter to Edma from March 1871 she affirmed: ‘work is the sole purpose of my existence’.

Berthe Morisot, on the other hand, had no interest in marriage and continued to work with determination. Her marriage reversed typical gender rolesĭespite promising beginnings at the Salon in the 1860s, Edma stopped painting when she married in 1869. In their social setting, women were free to dabble in the arts but, once they were married and had children, other duties prevailed. Do you realise what this means? In the upper-class milieu to which you belong, this will be revolutionary, I might say almost catastrophic.’ The tone is a reminder of how unusual it would have been for one of them to become a professional painter. Responding to their enthusiasm and commitment, their private tutor, Joseph Guichard, is said to have warned their mother: ‘Considering the characters of your daughters, my teaching will not endow them with minor drawing-room accomplishments, they will become painters. Soon, Berthe and Edma were painting in oil and copying pictures at the Louvre. When Berthe Morisot (1841–95), along with her sisters, Edma and Yves, started drawing lessons in 1857, it was a revelation.

Her painting training was considered revolutionary Arts Society Lecturer Dr Caroline Levisse reveals why it’s time for Morisot to be in the spotlight.īerthe Morisot, Chasse aux papillons, 1874. Now, against the backdrop of rising recognition for female artists, a show dedicated to her work opens in Paris. Berthe Morisot was a trailblazer of the Impressionist Movement, yet her work has been overshadowed by that of her male counterparts.

Berthe Morisot by Malika Bauwens