The Goose

Art Historical Context

Berthe Morisot's *The Goose* (1889) captures the artist's Impressionist sensibility in a delicate drypoint print, a medium she explored late in her career. one of the few women in the pioneering Impressionist movement—exhibiting with Monet, Renoir, and Degas since the 1870s—Morisot was renowned for her loose brushwork and luminous depictions of daily life, often featuring women and children. This intimate work, measuring just 14.4 × 11.2 cm, shifts to printmaking, showcasing her versatility just six years before her death in 1895. Drypoint, an intaglio technique, involves scratching directly into a copper plate with a needle, raising a soft burr that holds ink and produces velvety, textured lines resembling spontaneous drawing. Printed on cream laid paper, *The Goose* likely renders the bird with Morisot's signature lightness and fluidity, evoking the fleeting quality of Impressionist vision. Its small scale invites close viewing, highlighting the medium's tactile richness—far more painterly than traditional etching. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department, this piece exemplifies Morisot's innovative spirit, bridging her painting prowess with print's accessibility. A charming study in simplicity, it reminds us of her enduring gaze on the everyday wonders of the natural world.

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...