Self-Portrait with Julie Manet (The Drawing Lesson) - Berthe Morisot
Archival giclée
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Description
A delicate drypoint etching by Berthe Morisot, depicting an intimate moment of instruction between the artist and her daughter, Julie Manet.
This drypoint etching captures a quiet, domestic moment between the artist Berthe Morisot and her daughter, Julie Manet. Morisot, a central figure in the Impressionist movement, frequently turned her gaze toward the private sphere of her own household. In this composition, the two figures are seated closely together, their attention fixed upon a shared sketchbook or portfolio. The lines are delicate and economical, characteristic of Morisot's graphic work, where she prioritised the suggestion of form over rigid definition.
The interaction between mother and daughter is rendered with a sense of intimacy. Morisot leans slightly toward Julie, who is absorbed in the task at hand. The background is suggested through minimal hatching, allowing the focus to remain entirely on the figures and their quiet concentration. This work demonstrates Morisot's ability to capture fleeting expressions and postures through a medium that requires precision and foresight. Unlike her oil paintings, which often utilise rapid, broken brushwork, this drypoint reveals the artist's mastery of the etched line, using varying pressure to create depth and shadow within the figures' clothing and hair.
As one of the few women to exhibit regularly with the Impressionists, Morisot maintained a distinct visual language that often explored the lives of women and children. This print offers a glimpse into her personal life, documenting the relationship between the artist and her daughter during the late 1880s. The composition is balanced, with the figures forming a cohesive unit against the sparse background. It is a study in observation, reflecting the artist's own practice of drawing and her role as a mentor to her daughter. The work remains a fine example of the Impressionist interest in capturing the immediacy of everyday life through various media.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Self-Portrait with Julie Manet (The Drawing Lesson) - Berthe Morisot
Artist Biography
Berthe Morisot
She was born in Bourges in 1841. Her parents built a studio in the family garden for Berthe and her sister Edma, who was equally talented. Edma abandoned painting when she married a naval officer in 1869. Berthe, having lost her collaborator, held on harder. She exhibited ten works at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, the only woman showing. She participated in every Impressionist show except 1879, the year her daughter Julie was born.
Edouard Manet painted her portrait repeatedly before she married his brother Eugene in 1874. She had sworn to stay single. Eugene gave up his own painting ambitions so she could pursue hers. Whatever the nature of her relationship with Edouard, it produced some of his finest portraits and left a subject that art historians have been circling for over a century.
She painted the domestic world of women with a directness that the male Impressionists could not access: mothers and daughters, women at their toilette, the garden, the drawing room. The brushwork is rapid and unfinished-looking, more so than Monet's. She died of pneumonia in 1895, aged fifty-four, caught while nursing her daughter through the same illness. She wrote to sixteen-year-old Julie the day before.
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