Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets

In my opinion this portrait is one of the most beautiful ever created. It is so powerful, you can't take your eyes off of it.

Manet became acquainted with Berthe Morisot in 1868. She was the grand niece of Fragonard, and also an Impressionist painter; Morisot and Manet influenced each other's work. He painted her portrait many times, including his earlier work, The Balcony. Although there are some suspicions the two were in love with each other, he was already married and there is no confirmation that they had any romance. What is known that he painted her several times and stopped when she married Manet's brother Eugène in 1874.

This sublime composition in blacks is yet another confirmation of Manet's virtuosity. But he may also have been using the work to impart a lesson to his young disciple, reminding her of the stunning possibilities of black at a time when her own painting was becoming lighter and lighter in tone as she followed the path to Impressionism. This spellbinding portrait was rapidly considered by his friends to be one of the artist's masterpieces. Paul Valery also praised it in his 1932 foreword to the catalog of the Orangerie retrospective: "I do not rank anything in Manet's work higher than a certain portrait of Berthe Morisot dated 1872."

P.S. If you want to know more about the possible affair of these two famous artists, check our Impressionist gossip report here.  :D