Portrait of the Artist's Mother and Sister

Berthe Morisot painted the large canvas showing her mother reading while her sister Edma sits nearby with a pensive expression. The work, also known as "The Reading," was created in 1869–1870 when Edma stayed with the family to await the birth of her first child. Her loose white morning robe discreetly disguises the pregnancy.

This is one of Morisot's largest paintings and represents an ambitious family portrait combined with intimate domestic genre. She exhibited it at the Salon of 1870 and possibly again at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. The composition captures two women absorbed in their own thoughts, creating a mood of quiet introspection.

Anxious about sending the work to the Salon, Morisot asked Édouard Manet for advice on the last day for submissions. He visited her home, took her brushes, and began applying black to her mother's dress, continuing to the head and background. Morisot was furious, later calling the result a "caricature." This incident captures the complicated dynamics between male and female artists of the period.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington holds this portrait as part of the Chester Dale Collection since 1965. Morisot became one of the founding members of the Impressionist movement, exhibiting in seven of their eight shows.