Portrait of Berthe Morisot (ca. 1876)
Original title: Portrait of Berthe Morisot
kurzbeschreibung
Marcellin Desboutin captured Berthe Morisot around 1876 in a drypoint etching. The painter is shown seated, wearing a dress of traditional cut, her hair pinned up, with a handbag held between her hands.
Description
A seated woman wears a dress of traditional cut; her hair is gathered into a knot. She holds a handbag in her hands, her gaze directed slightly to the left. The background remains sparse, allowing the figure to stand out. The layout is centered, the light falls evenly and produces hardly any shadows.
Context
This print was made around 1876, when Berthe Morisot was already counted among the well-known women painters of Impressionism. Desboutin was a painter and printmaker who moved in the Impressionist circles of Paris. He chose drypoint etching, a technique then valued by artists for intimate portraits.
Impact
The delicate lines and the quiet, composed posture of the sitter give the sheet something elegant and restrained. The gray tones of the monochrome palette create a timeless, intimate mood.
Technique
In drypoint etching, lines are scratched directly into the copper plate. This produces the typical fine, parallel strokes with soft edges. The present work is the second of two states, indicating that the plate was reworked.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)