The Harbor at Lorient

1869

Berthe Morisot

Artist, French, 1841 - 1895

From behind a low stone wall, on which a young woman with pale skin sits, we look across a wide, shimmering blue waterway toward a town along the opposite shore, under a pale blue sky with wispy white clouds in this horizontal landscape painting. The caramel-brown, stone wall runs across the lower right corner, into the distance to our right. The woman sits on our side of the wall with her legs angled to our right, and she twists to lean onto her right hand, on our left, as she looks down toward the water. Her brown hair and face are shaded by the pale, shell-pink umbrella she holds in her left hand, to our right. She wears an ankle-length white dress with long sleeves, and a touch of white on the black hat she wears suggests it is decorated with a flower. The waterway seems to be lined with smooth walls like a canal. Ships with black hulls and wooden masts nearly span the passageway and reflect in the surface of the water beyond the woman. The shore across from us is lined with a row of deep green trees in front of a cluster of cream-white buildings with charcoal-gray roofs. More buildings are visible in the distance on our side of the waterway. The scene is loosely painted so many details are difficult to make out, especially in the woman’s face. The artist signed the work in dark paint at the lower center: “B Morisot.”

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 82

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 43.5 x 73 cm (17 1/8 x 28 3/4 in.)
    framed: 64.7 x 95.2 x 7.6 cm (25 1/2 x 37 1/2 x 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1970.17.48

More About this Artwork

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gift of the artist to Edouard Manet, 1869; Gabriel Thomas [1854-1932], Paris, by 1896; by inheritance to his wife, until at least 1941.[1] Capt. Edward H. Molyneux [1891-1974], Paris, by 1952;[2] sold 15 August 1955 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1] Gabriel Thomas was a cousin of Berthe Morisot. Published as still in the Thomas collection in Louis Rouart, Berthe Morisot, Paris, 1941.
[2] Exhibited as part of Molyneux collection in 1952.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1874

  • Première Exposition, Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculptuers, Graveurs, etc. [First Impressionist Exhibition], Paris, 1874, no. 105, as Marine.

1894

  • La libre esthétique, Brussels, 1894, probably no. 323, as Marine.

1896

  • Berthe Morisot, Durand-Ruel Galleries, Paris, 1896, no. 149.

1919

  • Cent oeuvres de Berthe Morisot, Bernheim-Jeune et Cie., Paris, 1919, no. 4.

1924

  • Exhibition of Paintings: Edouard Manet, Pierre Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1924, no. 2.

1929

  • Exposition de l'oeuvres de Berthe Morisot, Bernheim-Jeune et Cie, Paris, 1929, no. 68.

1932

  • Exhibition of French Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1932, no. 262

1935

  • L'Impressionisme, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1935, no. 53.

1936

  • Exposition 'Le grand siècle', Paul Rosenberg, Paris, 1936, no. 40.

  • Exhibition of Masters of French 19th Century Painting, Anglo French Art and Travel Society, New Burlington Galleries, London, 1936, no. 40.

1937

  • Chefs d'oeuvres de l'art français, Palais National des Arts, Paris, 1937, no. 381.

1938

  • Honderd Jaar Fransche Kunst, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1938, no. 184, repro.

1952

  • French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952, unnumbered checklist.

1959

  • Masterpieces of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1961

  • French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1961, no. 33, repro

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 95, repro., as The Harbor at Lorient with the Artist's Sister Edma.

1986

  • The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986, no. 11, repro.

1987

  • Berthe Morisot, Impressionist. National Gallery of Art; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA, 1987-1988

1989

  • Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 52, repro.

1994

  • Paris in 1874: The Year of Impressionism, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1994, no. 34, repro., as Marine.

  • Origins of Impressionism, Galeries nationales d'Exposition du Grand Palais, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1994-1995, no. 153, fig. 328, repro. (shown only in Paris).

1995

  • Landscapes of France: Impressionism and its rivals, Hayward Gallery, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1995-1996, no. 61, repro.

1997

  • The Birth of Impressionism: From Constable to Monet, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, 1997, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1999

  • Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 28, repro.

  • Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.

2003

  • Manet and the Sea, Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2003-2004, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 108 (shown only in Chicago and Philadelphia).

2011

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 34, repro.

2012

  • Un été au bord de l'eau: Loisirs et impressionnisme, Muée des Beaux-Arts, Caen, 2012-2013, no. 25 (in catalogue), no. 24 (in checklist at the end of the catalogue), repro.

2013

  • Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, 2013 2014, no. 116, repro.

2015

  • Monet and the Birth of Impressionism, Städel Museum, Frankfurt, 2015, no. 33, repro.

2016

  • Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870) and The Birth of Impressionism, Musée Fabre, Montpelier; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2016-2017, no. 119, repro.

2018

  • Berthe Morisot: Woman Impressionist, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec City; Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia; Dallas Museum of Art; Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2018-2019 (shown only in Dallas and Paris), no. 24 (French catalogue); no. 16 (English catalogue), repro.

Bibliography

1961

  • Bataille, M.L., and Georges Wildenstein. Berthe Morisot, catalogue des peintures, pastels et aquarelles. Paris, 1961: no.17.

  • Comstock, Helen. "The Connoisseur in America: An Intimate View of French Masters." The Connoisseur 148, no. 598 (December 1961): repro. 338.

1966

  • Goldwater, Robert. "The Glory that was France." Art News 65 (March 1966): 86, repro. 44.

  • Young, Mahonri Sharp. "The Mellon Collections: The Great Years of French Painting." Apollo 83 (June 1966): 431, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 248, repro.

1978

  • Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 38, repro. (continuing exhibition beginning in 1978).

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 459, no. 664, color repro.

1985

  • House, John. Impressionist Masterpieces, National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1985:74, repro.

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 287, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum. Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 52, repro.

1991

  • Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 19, repro.

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 261, color repro.

1997

  • Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism, 1997, no. 132, repro.

  • Wilkins, David G. and Bernard Schultz and Katheryn M. Linduff. Art Past-Art Present, New York, 1997, no. 9-62, repro.

1998

  • Pitman, Dianne W. Bazille: Purity, Pose, and Painting in the 1860s. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998: 136-137, repro. no. 86.

Inscriptions

lower center: B Morisot

Wikidata ID

Q3225805

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