Paris: Woman of My Choice

When I was wandering around the Musee d'Orsay, my favorite section was the Impressionists. They were a rebellious little crew that created almost a “new style” of art. They tried to capture a moment with quicker, looser brush strokes that gave the “impression” of the scene they were trying to  capture. One of the first impressionists was a woman named Berthe Morisot and she was one of the best! I mean look at this painting! It is absolutely beautiful. I have learned that she mostly paints domestic, calmer scenes normally focusing around women or nature. She paints with great technical skill and beautiful light color pallets. She had many pieces here at the Musee d'Orsay.

Her contribution was pretty significant because she was one of the first impressionists. To give some background, these painters were going against the grain and what was considered the acceptable style. The great and lofty Salon of Paris wouldn't accept their art because the style was not what was considered “good art”. So what did they do? They made their own exhibit and Morisot was a part of that. She was showing that an institution doesn’t get to decide or control art. This was quite a shocking move but it worked. She also was a woman in a very male dominated profession and never received adequate recognition in her life. 

I think that by continuing to have her pieces be seen is a great form of commemoration, and for an artist, probably the best. I learned about her in school previously and love her work. When I was walking around I saw so many of her paintings. She had a good handful of them in there! Even though I had learned about her in school, I was unaware of the challenges she faced with being taken seriously as an artist. That is one thing I wish was talked about more. But all in all, I feel like she is finally getting the honor she deserves! She also adds in her unique perspective that I feel is not captured by other impressionists. She is absolutely amazing. 


Comments

  1. Marie PetersonMay 7, 2024 at 5:48 PM

    I love that you chose to talk about Berthe Morisot, Anna! It was so interesting to learn about her this past week. I love the way you talk about her and I think you did a great job describing how hard it was for her as a female Impressionist artist. Her work blows me away and it is crazy to me that there was a time where all art that a woman made was not considered “good art” like you said. I feel like this issue isn’t as prevalent in todays society but after learning this week that there are only 663 pieces of art made by women in the Louve (which is considered to be one of the best art museums in the world) out of a shocking 460,000 total exhibits, I have a hard time believing that this obstacle has fully gone away. It is a really sad reality, so I am so glad we got to learn more about amazing female artists like Berthe Morisot!

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