Berthe Morisot and Her Daughter Julie Manet

Berthe Morisot and her husband Eugène Manet, brother of the painter, had known Renoir for many years. Their relationship became much closer in the second half of the 1880s. This remarkable double portrait is a masterpiece from Pierre-Auguste Renoir's later oeuvre and an icon of the Impressionist movement. Painted in 1894, the present work is not only a rare 'family snapshot,' but a visual document of the friendship between Renoir and Morisot, a friendship that Renoir would refer to as "one of the most solid of my life". Although women were not formally admitted into the Ecole des Beaux-Arts until the late nineteenth century, as a member of the haute bourgeoisie, Berthe Morisot received private art lessons. Her talent was apparent from an early age, she became perhaps the most privileged female painter in Parisian society developing close social and professional relationships with artists such as Henri Fantin-Latour and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. After studying under Camille Corot in the 1860s, she became Edouard Manet's model and protégé. Morisot's marriage in 1874 to Eugène Manet, Edouard's brother, would further secure her position within the Impressionist circle.