Reading, 1873. Creator: Berthe Morisot (French, 1841-1895).

Reading, 1873. Creator: Berthe Morisot (French, 1841-1895).

Reading, 1873. The fashionable woman seated in the foreground is the artist's sister, Edma. However, the painting is not a portrait. Morisot's principal concern was to render a figure in a natural, outdoor environment. Edma's white dress-the prime vehicle for Morisot's study of reflected light-is saturated with delicate lavender, blue, yellow, and rose tonalitites. Deftly executed with quick brushstrokes, the painting resounds with a feeling of freshness, vibrancy and delicate charm. "Every day I pray that the Good Lord will make me like a child," Morisot wrote, "That is to say, that He will make me see nature and render it the way a child would, without preconceptions." Morisot, the great granddaughter of the 18th-century French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, selected this painting as one of her four works shown in the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874.

Album / Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Model: No - Property: No
Rights questions?

14985 x 9478 px | 406.3 MB

126.9 x 80.2 cm | 50.0 x 31.6 in (300 dpi)