Walk in the Boulogne Wood

Art Historical Context

**Walk in the Boulogne Wood** is a delicate drypoint print by Berthe Morisot, one of the pioneering female Impressionists, created in 1889 and printed posthumously in 1921. Measuring just 15 x 11.9 cm on its plate, this intimate work captures a serene stroll through the Bois de Boulogne, a fashionable Parisian park beloved by artists for its lush paths and dappled light. Morisot, known for her luminous paintings of everyday life—often featuring women in natural settings—here translates her signature loose, atmospheric style into printmaking, inviting viewers into a moment of quiet leisure amid foliage and figures. Drypoint, Morisot's chosen medium, involves scratching directly into a copper plate with a sharp tool, producing rich, velvety lines with subtle burrs that hold ink for a soft, painterly effect—perfectly suiting her Impressionist sensibility. Printed on laid paper, which reveals its textured mesh, the work exemplifies late 19th-century experimentation with intaglio techniques amid the rise of graphic arts. As part of the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection, it highlights Morisot's versatility beyond oils, bridging painting and print traditions. This rare print from 1889, just six years before Morisot's death, underscores her enduring influence on modern art, blending fleeting impressions of nature with technical innovation for an evocative glimpse of Belle Époque Paris.

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...