size of the original painting: 20 inches x 23.5 inches
Who is this girl? (Some people think it’s Morisot’s niece, Jeanne.) What is she doing? Is she thinking or feeling? Is she sad or happy? Is she playing alone or with someone we can’t see? And what is she holding?
Now look at the table. Can you guess what happened in this room a little while ago? Perhaps there was a party or someone came for tea? Who else do you think was there? And where are they now?
Think about how it would feel to sit in this room and watch the ocean. Imagine what it would be like to smell the salty breeze, to hear the crashing waves. What other sounds might you hear? What other senses would you notice in this room?
To Think About:
Look at Morisot’s messy lines and colors she painted in unexpected places. Notice how they add energy to this painting. Morisot was an impressionist, and these are her impressions of the moment. (Learn more about impressionism in this sidebar.)
Meet the Artist:
The first time Berthe Morisot and her older sisters took art lessons, it was to draw pictures for their dad’s birthday. It was so much fun, they kept it up—especially Berthe and her older sister, Edma. Their private teachers taught them to paint by copying paintings in museums. (This was common training for artists.) And Berthe and Edma were really good! But Edma stopped painting once she married, and Berthe was on her own.
At the time, people didn’t think girls could paint as well as men, but Berthe kept practicing. She didn’t want to be an artist just for fun; she wanted to be a professional, even after marriage. Berthe kept learning and pushing herself. She experimented with a variety of mediums, like watercolor, pastels, oils, and colored pencils. She also became friends with famous painters like Monet, Renoir, Manet, and Degas. Berthe became really good, and her art was shown in important places, including with the impressionists.
Fun facts about Morisot:
• Because Morisot was a perfectionist, she destroyed a lot of her earliest work.
• Morisot had a knack for knowing what people liked in art—like family life.
• Although she didn’t make a lot of money in her lifetime, Morisot sold more paintings than Monet and Renoir.
Where in the world: France
