Berthe Morisot: a Modern Woman Artist

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 her immediate circle. Widening the day out into 20th century women artists became a bit unwieldy and too much for one day. Possibly linking more of the women to Morisot or a knowledge of her might have linked things up better.  

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