National Gallery of Art

Overview

In an 1876 review, a sarcastic critic referred to participants in the second Impressionist exhibition as "five or six lunatics—among them a woman—a group of unfortunate creatures." Berthe Morisot is the woman to whom he alluded. Morisot, an original member of the group, showed in seven of its eight exhibitions and contributed financially to sustain the impressionist movement. The Mother and Sister of the Artist, one of Morisot's largest works, was exhibited at the Salon of 1870 and perhaps again in 1874 at the first Impressionist exhibition.

The painting, a family portrait and an intimate domestic genre scene, was begun when Morisot's sister Edma Pontillon stayed with her family in the winter of 1869–1870 to await the birth of her first child, a pregnancy discreetly disguised by Edma's loose white morning robe. Anxious about sending the painting to the Salon, Morisot solicited Manet's advice, and on the last day for submissions he visited the Morisot home. Morisot's correspondence reveals that, rather than offer verbal suggestions, Manet extensively repainted the figure of the artist's mother. Manet's suave shorthand, seen in the mother's features and black dress, differs obviously from the nervous refinement of Morisot's touch in her sister's features, the floral upholstery, and the reflections in the mirror over Edma's head.

Provenance

Mme Pontillon, sister of the artist, Paris; her daughter, Mme Forget, Paris; (Paul Rosenberg, Paris); sold 15 May 1930 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1870

Salon of 1870, Paris, no. 2039

1874

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

1919

Cent Oeuvres de Berthe Morisot, Bernheim-Jeune et Cie., Paris, 1919, no. 5

1929

Berthe Morisot, Bernheim-Jeune et Cie., Paris, 1929, no. 27

1931

Portraits of Women Loan Exhibition: Romanticism to Surrealism, Museum of French Art, New York, 1931, no. 17, as Portrait, Mme. Morisot and her daughter, Mme. Pontillon.

1935

L'Impressionisme, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1935, no. 50

1965

The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1986

The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986 (shown only in Washington).

2010

From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1925

Fourreau, Armand. Berthe Morisot. Paris, 1925:33, repro.

1941

Catalogue of French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 10, repro. pl. XVIII

1942

French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 47, repro.

1944

French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 47, repro.

1952

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 158, color repro.

1953

French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 55, repro.

1957

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 99.

1959

Rouart, Denis, ed. The Correspondence of Berthe Morisot. London, 195740+

1961

Bataille, Marie-Louise and Georges Wildenstein. Berthe Morisot: Catalogue des peintures, pastels et aquarelles. Paris, 1961: no. 20, repro.

1963

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 258, repro.

1965

Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 87, repro.

1965

Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 94.

1966

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:428, color repro.

1968

European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 83, repro.

1973

Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1973:241, repro.

1975

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

1975

Munsterberg, Hugo. A History of Women Artists. New York, 1975:53, repro.

1976

Petersen, Karen and J.J. Wilson. Women Artists: Recognition and Reappraisal From the Early Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. New York, 1976:90, repro.

1978

Fine, Elsa Honig. Women & Art: A History of Women Painters and Sculptors from the Renaissance to the 20th Century. London, 1978:124+, repro.

1978

King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 87, pl. 52.

1984

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 456, no. 659, color repro.

1985

European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 286, repro.

1986

Buettner, Stuart. "Images of Modern Motherhood in the Art of Morisot, Cassatt, Modersohn-Becker, Kollwitz." Woman's Art Journal 7, no. 2 (Fall 1986-Winter 1987):16+, repro.

1986

Garb, Tamar. Women Impressionists. New York, 1986:62, repro.

1991

Gingold, Diane J., and Elizabeth A.C. Weil. The Corporate Patron. New York, 1991: 163, color repro.

1992

Higonnet, Anne. Berthe Morisot's Images of Women. Harvard University Press, 1992:67, repro.

1992

Langer, Cassandra. Mother and Child in Art. New York, 1992

1992

National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 187, repro.

1993

Denisoff, Dennis. "The Rare Space of the Female Artist: Impressionism in Audrey Thomas's Latakia." Mosaic: The Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 26, no. 4 (Fall 1993):79, repro.

1995

Nord, Philip. The Republican Moment: Struggles for Democracy in Nineteenth-Century France. Harvard University Press, 1995:repro

1996

Roos, Jane Mayo. Early Impressionism and the French State (1866-1874). Cambridge, 1996: 139-140, 143, fig. 106.

1998

Faxon, Alicia Craig. "Reading." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography. 2 vols. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. Chicago and London, 1998: 2:768.

1998

Gersch-Nešic, Beth. “Pregnancy." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:754.

2004

Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 380, no. 313, color repro.

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