Berthe Morisot

Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) was the first woman to join the movement and exhibited in all but one of their eight exhibitions. Her luminous, elegant paintings capture women and children in domestic settings, on terraces, and in gardens. Flickering brushstrokes, light palettes, and a focus on private life distinguish her intimate scenes. She approached subjects inaccessible to her male colleagues, offering unique perspectives on 19th-century bourgeois femininity.

Born to an affluent family (her great-great-uncle was the Rococo painter Fragonard), Morisot received private art lessons and studied under Barbizon master Camille Corot. She met Edouard Manet in 1868, becoming his model and marrying his brother Eugene in 1874. Her masterpiece The Cradle (1872) depicts her sister Edma with infant daughter Blanche. Summer's Day captures women boating in the Bois de Boulogne. She died of pneumonia at 54 while nursing her sick daughter Julie. After her death, Renoir, Monet, and Degas organized a memorial exhibition of 400 works. The Musee d'Orsay holds The Cradle, while Summer's Day hangs at the National Gallery in London.