Berthe Morisot

Berthe Morisot met Édouard Manet at the Louvre in 1867, and they became immediate friends. Six years later she married Manet’s younger brother Eugène. Morisot and Édouard maintained a close friendship, and he made many portraits of her. Manet based two lithographs and this etching on his oil painting, Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets (1872, Musée d’Orsay, Paris). The lithographs closely resemble the painting, while the etching has a nervous energy. Morisot’s dropped right shoulder gives the impression of her leaning forward, adding intensity. In this second state of the etching, Manet darkened the entire figure by etching the plate again, creating more dramatic lighting on Morisot’s face.