ca 1888 (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Who was Berthe Morisot? (1841 –1895)
Born in France, made prints in France
Printmaking activity: 1878 –1895
Born into an upper middle-class family, Berthe Morisot was a painter who enjoyed great success during her lifetime. Like Mary Cassatt – whose prints may have encouraged Morisot’s own printmaking – she became a key member of the
Impressionist group. She turned to printmaking late in her career, and only shared her printed works with family and close friends. Her prints were not exhibited until 1907, twelve years after her death.
Born in France, made prints in France
Printmaking activity: 1878 –1895
Born into an upper middle-class family, Berthe Morisot was a painter who enjoyed great success during her lifetime. Like Mary Cassatt – whose prints may have encouraged Morisot’s own printmaking – she became a key member of the
Impressionist group. She turned to printmaking late in her career, and only shared her printed works with family and close friends. Her prints were not exhibited until 1907, twelve years after her death.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | dyrpoint, ink on paper. |
| Brief description | Sheet of studies of a duck, swan and girl, from a set of eight prints; drypoint by Berthe Morisot, France, ca.1888. |
| Physical description | Print with studies of a swan and a duck superimposed upon slight sketches of a girl's head. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | In the late 1880s, Morisot copied many of her works in other media onto copper plates. It is likely that she first drew onto a piece of paper before transferring her designs to the plate. In these plates, we can see a fusion of previous
sketches, such as a girl’s head alongside a study of a swan.(2022) |
| Object history | According to the V&A registered file 'This group of etchings makes up the artist's entire output of the medium. A number of them served as preliminary studies for some of her best known paintings, Portrait de Julie Manet; Portrait de Jeune Fille; Berthe Morisot et Julie; les Canards, Bassin du Mesnil and Jardin de Mézy. The etchings were executed during 1887-88 at the urging of Mary Cassatt and Mallarmé. At that time only a few proofs were pulled, virtually unobtainable today. The present set was printed later by Ambroise Vollard'. Wesley Johnston, who was up-dating Janine Bailly-Herzberg's 1979 catalogue of Berthe Morisot's drypoint print (Les Estampes de Berthe Morisot, Gazette de Beaux-Arts, May-June 1979, pp.216-227), sent the following e-mail on the 26 September 2006:- 'Actually these were not preliminary studies for her paintings. Most of them are in fact copies of her prior works in other media. Also, Janine Bailly-Herzberg in her 1979 Gazette des Beaux-Arts article, particularly notes that the Manets (Eugène and his wife Berthe Morisot) did not go to Mézy until 1890 (thus after the plates were all made), so that the attribution of Mézy to that plate is erroneous. I have gone through the Angoulvent, Bataille and Wildenstein, and Clairet catalogues of her works and have identified the works that were the sources of thsoe drypoint plates that she copied from prior works.' |
| Production | From a set of eight later impressions printed by Ambroise Vollard from the cancelled plates |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Who was Berthe Morisot? (1841 –1895) Born in France, made prints in France Printmaking activity: 1878 –1895 Born into an upper middle-class family, Berthe Morisot was a painter who enjoyed great success during her lifetime. Like Mary Cassatt – whose prints may have encouraged Morisot’s own printmaking – she became a key member of the Impressionist group. She turned to printmaking late in her career, and only shared her printed works with family and close friends. Her prints were not exhibited until 1907, twelve years after her death. |
| Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1959 . London: HMSO, 1964. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.695-1959 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
