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The exhibition chronologically retraces the exceptional jour- ney of her career, her artistic affinities, her sources of inspiration, her intimate themes and her choices of colors which linked her to the Masters of the 18th century.
It opens with one of her emblematic works, her famous painting “Au Bal” (1875), a portrait of a Parisian woman in a ball dress, a fan decorated with a gallant scene in her hand. Alongside it are two 18th century silk fans exhibited for the first time, including that of the portrait which belonged to Berthe Morisot.
Successively, a few works from her beginnings parade to arrive at the period 1879-1885 which the Museum entitles “Triumphant Impressionism”.
Around a detail of «Venus goes to ask Vulcan for her weapons», a copy made at the Louvre after François Boucher, are the works of her maturity such as the «Woman at her Toilette» or the «Young Woman on the Divan».
The part linked to Fragonard with «The Piano Lesson», a painting loaned by the Louvre Museum, shows how much Berthe Morisot was inspired by the very feminine representation of this beauty dear to the artist.
This spiritual connection with Fragonard followed Berthe Morisot, a comparison to which her contemporaries were very attached.
Berthe MORISOT (1841-1895) Au Bal
1875 Huile sur toile 62 x 52 cm Paris, musée Marmo9an Monet © musée Marmo9an Monet