Berthe Morisot

Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Carstairs Gallery, New York
Mr. and Mrs. S.E. Worms, New York (acquired from the above by 1952)
Hirschl & Adler Galleries Inc., New York (acquired from the Estate of the above, 1996) 
Sam Porter Fine Arts, Great Neck, New York
Acquired from the above, March 1995     

Paris, Durand-Ruel, Berthe Morisot, 1896, no. 77
Paris, Durand-Ruel, Berthe Morisot, 1902, no. 54
Paris, Galerie Marcel Bernheim, Réunion d’Oeuvres, par Berthe Morisot, 1922, no. 52
Paris, Cercle de la Renaissance and Bernheim Jeune, Berthe Morisot, 1929, no. 84
New York, Wildenstein, Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Berthe Morisot, 1960, no. 69

Monique Angoulvent, Berthe Morisot, Paris, 1933, no. 643
Marie-Louise Bataille and Georges Wildenstein, Berthe Morisot, Catalogue des peintures, pastels et aquarelles, Paris, 1961, no. 407, p. 50, illustrated fig. 397
Alain Clairet, Delphine Montalant, Yves Rouart, Berthe Morisot, 1841-1895, Catalogue Raisonné de l’Oeuvre Peint, Montolivet, 1997, no. 413, illustrated p. 316

A prominent member of the Impressionist circle, Berthe Morisot produced images that focus both on her own world and on subjects from modern life. Women and children, including her nieces and nephews as well as her daughter, often served as the artist’s subject matter.  Alain Clairet, Delphine Montalant and Yves Rouart note that this work was executed in the artist’s rue Weber studio with a professional model named Jeanne-Marie. However, a 1952 letter (in the Hirschl & Adler Gallery archives) from Roland Balay of Carstairs Gallery to Mr. S.E. Worms, a former owner of the picture, states that the sitter is one of Morisot’s nieces.  The artist had two nieces named Jeanne, and the woman in Devant la toilette most closely resembles Jeanne Gobillard, whose distinctive strawberry-blonde hair is depicted in several of the artist’s works.  In the present painting, Morisot’s lush, luminous brushstrokes sensitively portray her sitter as she arranges her hair.  The artist often employed painterly techniques in her backgrounds, using spontaneous dashes of paint and broad areas of color to create a light-filled, atmospheric effect.  Throughout her career, Morisot explored the boundaries of modern art, always questioning accepted practice and experimenting with a variety of ideas about color and line.  As a result, she made a remarkable contribution to late nineteenth century French painting and the history of Impressionism.