Portrait of Mme Boursier and Her Daughter (Portrait de Mme Boursier et de sa fille)

Berthe Morisot

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Berthe Morisot came from a well-to-do family, and her paintings reflect an essentially urban, bourgeois vision of the world. Unable to respectably patronize the evening entertainment venues her male counterparts frequently depicted, she focused on upper-class domestic spaces and the activities typically associated with modern Parisian women. The sitters in this portrait are the artist’s cousins, posed together on a social visit in a room well appointed with floral upholstery, a piano and sheet music, a mirror, and a vase of flowers. Both are fashionably dressed—the mother in a black day ensemble that emphasizes the whiteness of her skin and a hat trimmed with ostrich feathers (which were sourced from Africa at this time), and her daughter in a trimmed jacket with flowers or ribbons in her hair. Quick, unblended brushstrokes summarily define the scene while simultaneously foregrounding the materiality of paint itself.

Morisot was a core member of the group of mid-nineteenth-century artists who began to explore themes of contemporary life and leisure using loose brushwork and bright colors to capture the experience of vision and the fleeting effects of light. They came to be known as Impressionists and organized eight independent exhibitions between 1874 and 1886 to promote their art.

Caption

Berthe Morisot French, 1841–1895. Portrait of Mme Boursier and Her Daughter (Portrait de Mme Boursier et de sa fille), ca. 1873. Oil on canvas, 29 5/16 x 22 3/8 in. (74.5 x 56.8 cm) Frame: 36 3/4 x 30 x 2 1/2 in. (93.3 x 76.2 x 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 29.30. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 29.30_PS9.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

European Art

Title

Portrait of Mme Boursier and Her Daughter (Portrait de Mme Boursier et de sa fille)

Date

ca. 1873

Geography

Place made: France

Medium

Oil on canvas

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

29 5/16 x 22 3/8 in. (74.5 x 56.8 cm) Frame: 36 3/4 x 30 x 2 1/2 in. (93.3 x 76.2 x 6.4 cm)

Signatures

Signed lower left: "Berthe Morisot"

Credit Line

Museum Collection Fund

Accession Number

29.30

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.