The Artist's Sister, Edma, with Her Daughter, Jeanne
1872
Medium
watercolor over graphite on laid paper
Dimensions
overall (approximate): 25.1 x 25.9 cm (9 7/8 x 10 3/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Accession Number
1970.17.160
Art Historical Context
Berthe Morisot's *The Artist's Sister,ma, with Her Daughter Jeanne* (1872) captures an intimate family moment, showcasing the French Impressionist's talent for portraying the women in her life. Morisot, a pioneering artist and close associate of Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, depicts her sister Edma—a painter herself—gently holding her young daughter Jeanne. Created just before the first Impressionist exhibition in 4, this work reflects Morisot's focus on domestic scenes, blending personal affection with artistic innovation. Rendered in watercolor over graphite on laid paper, the small-scale d...
About the Artist
Berthe Morisot · 1841–1895
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) was a founding member of the Impressionist movement and one of the most significant women artists of the 19th century. Born into an affluent bourgeois family in Bourges, France—her mother was a great-niece of the Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard—Morisot received serious artistic training despite the social constraints facing women of her class. Under the guidance of...