Fillette écrivant (Julie Manet)

Details

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Fillette écrivant (Julie Manet)
stamped with the signature 'Berthe Morisot' (lower right)
pastel on paper
20 ½ x 18 ½ in. (52 x 47 cm.)
Executed circa 1883

Provenance

Schröder und Leisewitz, Bremen.
JPL Fine Arts, London.
Acquired from the above in March 1994, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibited

Paris, Galerie Hopkins-Thomas, Berthe Morisot, April - June 1987, no. 15 (illustrated).
London, JPL Fine Arts, Berthe Morisot, November 1990 - January 1991, no. 9, p. 26 (illustrated p. 27).
Paris, Galerie Hopkins-Thomas, Hommage à Berthe Morisot, October - November 1993.
Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Berthe Morisot, June - November 2002, no. 87, p. 296 (illustrated p. 297).
Paris, Musée Marmottan Monet, Berthe Morisot, March - July 2012, p. 31 (illustrated fig. 14).

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Lot Essay

Yves Rouart has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Fillette écrivant is an intimate, up-close, portrait of Berthe Morisot’s daughter, Julie Manet. Concentrating on her studies, Julie is absorbed with the task in front of her, not paying attention to her mother who draws. Morisot is highly celebrated for her depictions of domestic bourgeois life, and Fillette écrivant is a wonderful example of her modern approach to interior scenes. The angle is markedly more photographic than pictorial, and the lack of idealisation and life-like portrayal adheres to the principles of Impressionism, revealing the influence of photography on the artist. These interior scenes were rarely exhibited in public, often only shown to friends, allowing for an even more touching and personal reading to this portrait.

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