Cathy's Art Diary

Delightful exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery looking at the work of the Impressionist Berthe Morisot. I loved that the show was based around how Morisot was influenced by the 18th century. It gave a good structure and the narrative was clearly explained by good labels and interesting hangs of her work next to the older works. Looking at the dates it is equivalent to us looking back to the 1920s. There were some great loans and it was lovely to get so close to the pictures to study the brushwork. I preferred the earlier work as the colours were richer and they had my favourite of her works of her husband, Eugene Manet, on their honeymoon on the Isle of Wight. It was in a good section on her time in London and on the island looking at who she met and the art she saw. Closed 10 September 2023 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard

Interesting one  day course from the London Art History Society looking at the Impressionist, Berthe Morisot, and her impact as a woman artist. Jacqueline Cockburn started by looking at Morisot’s life and work with excellent illustrations. She talked us though how her style changed over the years and the subjects that she covered. We then went on to look at the wider artistic and social context within which she was working. Most interesting was thinking about how Paris had been designed to give male spaces in the city and female in the suburbs and how there were spaces into which women couldn’t go. In the afternoon we focused on other women artists, first those who were part of the Parisian avant garde. Ost of those we looked at became a success but we did also talk about how female dealers didn’t always help them. Finally we looked at artists who weren’t successful or who have been largely forgotten or eclipsed by their husbands. I would have liked a bit more on Morisot and...

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery on the life and work of the female Impressionist, Berthe Morisot. Belle Smith took us through the story of Morisot’s life illustrating it with her paintings. She told us how Edward Manet became her friend and how she married his brother Eugene. We went through the artists who helped her and mentored her and the early influence on her work. I would like to have heard a bit more about Morisot’s later life and career and who bought her work. The talk concentrated on more on how she started as an artist and became established but I guess time was quite limited.