Berthe Morisot (January 14, 1841 – March 2, 1895) was a painter and a member of the circle of Impressionists. Born in Bourges, France, Berthe Morisot was the third daughter of a prominent and wealthy government official. The family moved to Paris in 1852, where her father served as the Judicial Adviser to the Auditor's Office. This powerful position, with its high salary and important political associations, allowed the Morisots to lead a privileged lifestyle as members of the upper middle class. Raised accordingly, Morisot and her sisters were provided tutors for languages and literature and, in 1857, art lessons. Morisot and her older sister Edma quickly developed both a passion and a high level of skill in drawing and painting. Alongside her sister, Morisot copied masterpieces at the Louvre and painted out of doors under the direction of well-known landscape painter Camille Corot. She first exhibited her paintings at the prestigious annual Salon in 1864, and her work was shown there regularly through 1873. In the winter of 1868-1869, Morisot's artistic career and personal life took an important turn when she was introduced to Edouard Manet. Manet's reputation and aesthetic innovations were well known to Morisot, and they began a lifelong friendship. Over the course of the next five years, Manet would paint Morisot 11 times. While Morisot learned much from Manet, she never formally studied with him. She often disagreed with his suggestions, most notably in her decision to join the Impressionist circle. In 1874, Edgar Degas asked Morisot to join a group of independent artists that included Degas, as well as Monet, Renoir, and Camille Pissarro. They later became known as the Impressionists. Degas and his colleagues declared that Morisot's pictorial technique, with her loose brushstrokes, unfinished backgrounds, and light-infused color exemplified the Impressionists' aesthetic aims. Morisot remained faithful to the Impressionists after others abandoned the movement, participating in seven of the eight exhibitions and single-handedly organizing the final show in 1886. Perhaps Manet's greatest influence on her was the introduction of his brother Eugène to her family; Morisot wed Eugène Manet in December 1874 at the mature age of 33, well after she was established as a professional artist, and several months after her participation in the first Impressionist exhibition. Eugène readily supported his wife's career, never asking her to abandon her painting for matrimony, yet despite his acceptance of her art, Eugène in particular and men in general appear extremely infrequently in Morisot's paintings. Her wide range of subjects often included portraits of her mother, sisters, and nieces, as well as of her own daughter Julie, to whom she gave birth in 1878, and who would become her favorite model and painting companion; still lifes; landscapes; and the domestic scene, particularly traditional feminine occupations. Morisot continued to paint and exhibit in her later years, receiving her first solo exhibition only a few weeks after her husband's death in 1892. While selling paintings had never been a priority for Morisot, she actively collected works by her colleagues, including Manet and Monet. In these years, Julie became her mother's constant companion, painting alongside her just as Edma had done years earlier, joining her visits with Renoir, Monet, and Degas, and helping to fill the void left by Eugène's death. In 1895, Morisot died from pneumonia at the age of 54, leaving the majority of her works and collection to Julie who served as Morisot's champion by lending her works to international exhibitions until her own death in 1966, ensuring her mother a prominent place in the French avant-garde tradition.
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