1887 · Morisot family - Manet · Musée d'Orsay
Julie Manet at Renoir's cat: childhood, line and tenderness
Julie is eight or nine years old when she poses with her cat. Behind the familiar image, Renoir constructs one of his most thoughtful child portraits: preparatory drawings, precise contours, bright colors and almost enameled surface.
This guide replaces The Cat Child in the Morisot -Manet family, Renoir's so-called "ingresque" period and Julie's future life, which became an active memory of Impressionism.
The short answer
A tender child portrait, but never improvised
Julie Manet, also called The Cat Child, was painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in 1887. Julie is the only daughter of Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet, brother of Édouard Manet. Her parents, long-time friends of the painter, commissioned the portrait from her. The little girl, aged eight or nine, sits three-quarters tall, with braided hair, a white, spotted cat pressed against her.
The painting no longer exactly falls under the floating touch of the 1870s. Renoir paid new attention to drawing, contours and finishing. The Musée d'Orsay presents it as a major example of its so-called "Ingresque" period: lighter line, bold colors and refined surface. This development confuses some close to the painter, but Berthe Morisot particularly appreciates it.
Tenderness comes less from a sentimental anecdote than from the construction of gestures. Julie's arm envelops the animal; the cat's head straightens towards her; the child's gaze moves towards us. The cat is neither an accessory placed on the knees nor a symbol added afterwards. It organizes the relationship between the body, the hands and space.
At the heart of impressionism
Julie is born into a family where artists are relatives, friends and role models
The daughter of Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet
Julie was born in Paris on November 14, 1878. Her mother, Berthe Morisot, was one of the major figures of the impressionist group. His father, Eugène Manet, is the brother of the painter Édouard Manet. In this environment, posing, watching an artist work and living among paintings are part of the daily experience.
Morisot painted his daughter from childhood, sometimes with Eugène in Bougival's garden, sometimes alone, playing, drawing, reading or accompanied by his doggy style Laërte. These images do not form a family album in the banal sense. They are at the center of Morisot's research into time, intimacy and fleeting attitudes.
Renoir has known Julie since birth. His relationship with the family became particularly close in the second half of the 1880s. The 1887 commission was therefore based on trust: the parents wanted a faithful resemblance, but chose a painter whose new research they knew.
A Friendship Order
Why entrust Julie to Renoir rather than to her own mother?
Two looks, two functions
Berthe Morisot often paints her daughter in the continuity of daily life. The portrait commissioned from Renoir responds to another desire: to produce an autonomous, lasting and fully constructed image.
The Marmottan Monet museum file clearly formulates the difference. Morisot readily seeks a passing attitude from childhood and accepts that a face remains partially hidden or barely indicated. Renoir receives the mission of making a resemblance as faithful as possible. This expectation does not force him to achieve photographic realism: it makes preparation more important.
The order comes at a time when Renoir is reevaluating his manner. After his trip to Italy and his study of the masters, he sought more solidity in form. Julie's face, hands, dress and animal are therefore integrated into a much more drawn composition than certain impressionist figures of previous years.
The result satisfied Julie herself, who later remembered the sessions and judged the resemblance to be good. Degas, more ironic, criticizes the roundness of Renoir's faces. This divergence reminds us that a successful portrait is never a unanimous truth: it is also a choice of style.
The command requires resemblance; Renoir responds with an architecture of lines, colors and gestures that goes beyond simple description.
Key to reading the portrait from 1887Before the canvas
At least four studies to find the right angle, arm position and relationship with the cat
A prepared spontaneity
The Musée d'Orsay mentions at least four preparatory drawings. Renoir first considered a more frontal presentation, then quickly adopted three-quarters. This movement seems minimal, but it transforms the canvas. The face acquires relief; the braid becomes visible; the arms can form a cradle around the cat.
Studies in charcoal and pencil on blue paper show that the line here largely precedes the color. Renoir tests the contours, the inclination of the head and the mass of the garment. The cat imposes an additional difficulty: an animal does not maintain the same position for long. The painter must synthesize several observations.
Julie remembers work carried out in small areas, which did not always correspond to Renoir's habit. This method contributes to the regular finish and almost enameled surface described by the museum. The image gives an impression of calm, but it is the result of a series of precise adjustments.
Soft geometry
The triangle of the face, arms and cat stabilizes the entire composition
Three interlocking masses
Julie's head forms the top. His shoulders and arms widen the middle. The cat's body closes the composition in the foreground.
The framing cuts the legs and focuses attention on the bust. The background remains not very descriptive, so that no furniture distracts the eye. Renoir contrasts the verticality of the little girl with the more horizontal mass of the animal. The braid descends like a dark line, while the cat's light coat rises towards the face.
Julie's left arm forms a protective curve. The right hand holds the animal without stiffness. These gestures are readable, but they are not dramatized. The feeling of affection comes from bodily proximity: the cat really occupies the knee space and forces the child's body to adapt.
The painting also organizes two looks. Julie looks directly at us, calm and attentive. The cat looks towards her or slightly upwards. This difference creates a circuit: the spectator meets the child, then follows the animal and returns to the face. The image remains alive without multiplication of accessories.
More than an attribute
The cat makes visible the gentleness, but also Julie's ability to maintain an independent presence
A relationship, not a single symbol
In portrait history, animals can signal loyalty, status, play, or affection. It would be excessive to attribute a unique symbolic meaning to Julie's cat. The work functions primarily as the representation of a familiar relationship between a child and an animal.
The cat provides tactile quality. Its light coat contrasts with the dress and hair; its spots give a graphic rhythm; its flexibility opposes Julie's more stable pose. The viewer imagines the weight, warmth and restrained movement of the animal. The painting thus uses a memory of touch.
Renoir had already painted The Cat Boy in 1868 and will return to women or children accompanied by animals. Comparing these works shows that the cat never fulfills exactly the same function. In 1868, proximity can be more physical and daring; in 1887, it became the emotional and formal pivot of a family order.
The so-called "Ingresque" period
In 1887, Renoir looked for a firmer line without giving up color
Outline
The face and silhouette stand out more clearly from the background than in the very melted portraits of the 1870s.
Drawing
Preparatory studies establish pose, arms and inclination before coloring.
Surface
The finish appears smooth and refined, almost enameled, without completely eliminating the presence of the touch.
Colors
They remain alive. The search for solidity does not mean a generalized return to academic browns.
Volume
The cat's face, hands and body are constructed as durable shapes, not just flashes of light.
Sensitivity
Rigor does not extinguish tenderness: it gives the relationship between the child and the animal a deeper readability.
Why "ingresque"?
The term evokes Renoir's admiration for Ingres and, more broadly, his desire to rediscover the discipline of drawing after impressionist research.
This period should not be understood as a servile copy of Ingres. Renoir retains his palette, his taste for flesh and his sense of intimacy. Rather, he reorganizes his priorities. The line becomes a means of fixing the figures and giving more permanence to the composition.
The Great Bathers, completed the same year, represent the monumental ambition of this research. Julie Manet offers a domestic and concentrated version. The portrait proves that the new method can serve a child and an animal without producing sculptural coldness.
Some of Renoir's friends criticize this development, while Morisot appreciates it. This divided reception reminds us that impressionism is not a fixed style. Its artists continue to move, doubt and confront immediate sensation with museum traditions.
A constructed harmony
Light complexion, dark hair and white coat: the palette separates the shapes without hardening them
| Area | Chromatic role | Visual effect |
|---|---|---|
| Face | Roses, ivory and slightly cold shadows | Concentrates the light and supports direct gaze |
| Hair and braid | Deep browns and warm accents | Frame the face and create a vertical |
| Dress | Denser tone, modulated by folds | Stabilizes the bust and brings out the hands |
| Cat | Colorful whites, grays and dark spots | Creates a second bright focus on the knees |
| Background | Muted and not very descriptive agreement | Isolates the group without giving the impression of a brutal void |
The line gives permanence; color prevents this permanence from becoming immobile.
Essential balance of the portrait of Julie ManetAn image taken by the mother
Berthe Morisot translates Renoir's portrait into drypoint
From family painting to print
In 1889, Berthe Morisot created a drypoint based on the portrait of Renoir. The National Gallery of Art maintains a later print of this image. The transition from oil to print removes color and focuses attention on the line: contour of the face, arms, cat and spots on the coat.
This cover has a particular value. Morisot is neither an external copyist nor a simple admiring mother. She is a painter, engraver and one of the central artists of impressionism. By choosing to translate the portrait, she integrates it into her own work and family memory.
The print also shows that Renoir's composition resists the change of medium. Without colored roses, browns or whites, the relationship between the child and the cat remains readable. The preparatory drawing and the linear organization of the painting explain this solidity.
Julie through the years
The little girl of 1887 becomes a young woman painted, photographed and drawn by an entire circle
A model that is growing before our eyes
Morisot painted her as a child, on the piano, at the table, with her father, with her doggy style or wearing the Liberté hat. Renoir returned to his face in 1894.
Comparing the works avoids reducing Julie to an eternal child with a cat. The 1894 portrait, kept at the Marmottan Monet museum, shows a teenager with a more assertive physiognomy. The same person goes through different perspectives and moments: Morisot's maternal speed, Renoir's construction, Degas' photographs and memories of the Mallarmé circle.
Julie also becomes an artist. The Musée d'Orsay preserves some of her works and documents her life under the married name of Mrs. Ernest Rouart. She therefore does not remain only a passive model. She looks at, copies, paints, writes and actively participates in the transmission of the environment from which she comes.
This continuity gives the 1887 portrait a retrospective depth. The girl's direct gaze belongs to someone who will become a witness and guardian of impressionism. The painting does not predict this trajectory, but our knowledge of her life transforms the way we look at her.
Impressionist memory
Julie Manet helps preserve the works, memories and bonds of a generation
From model to witness
Julie's long life, from 1878 to 1966, directly connects the world of Manet, Morisot, Renoir, Degas and Mallarmé to 20th century history.
His memories of the posing sessions provide rare information on Renoir's method. His Rouart family also plays an important role in the conservation and transmission of works. The Marmottan Monet museum, where there are numerous paintings linked to Morisot and Julie, owes part of its collections to this story of donations and legacies.
The 1887 painting entered the national collections by donation in 1999. Its public career is therefore relatively recent compared to its date of creation. The inventory number and the notice from the Musée d'Orsay now make it possible to distinguish the original from copies, prints after Renoir and modern reproductions.
Looking at Julie as an impressionist memory does not mean forgetting the child in the painting. On the contrary, it allows us to understand why this intimate image has historical significance. It condenses a family commission, a stylistic stage by Renoir, the gaze of a painter-mother and the future life of a witness.
Eight reproductions in dialogue
Julie, her family, Renoir's animals and children
Julie Manet at the cat
The family commission became one of the emblematic child portraits of the Musée d'Orsay.
See reproduction →
Portrait of Julie Manet
A more mature face, kept at the Marmottan Monet museum.
See the work →Berthe Morisot and Julie
Renoir brings together the painter and her child in an intimate portrait.
See the work →Julie in the Liberty hat
Morisot captures a more mobile identity, between play, fashion and childhood.
See the work →
Julie and Laertes
Another familiar relationship, this time painted by his mother.
See the work →
The Cat Boy
Compare two ways to unite a young model and an animal.
See the work →
Lucie Bérard
Another search for calm presence, light clothing and resemblance.
See the work →
The Birdchild
The little animal once again becomes a link between gesture, look and story.
See the work →Install the portrait
Julie Manet brings a calm, intimate and immediately relational presence
Eye height
Julie's gaze works best when the center of the face is close to the viewer's natural height.
Clear wall
Ecru, linen, warm gray or very soft green let the skin tones and coat retain their light.
Bedroom or office
The vertical format and proximity to the subject are suitable for quiet spaces, a reading corner or a bedroom.
Frame
Matte gold wood for museum echo, walnut for discreet warmth, natural wood for a more contemporary decor.
With portraits
Pair Julie with another child by Renoir or a portrait by Morisot, with consistent formats and frames.
With animals
A duet with The Cat Boy allows you to compare twenty years of evolution in Renoir's painting.
Reliable collections and sources
Put Renoir's children in the foreground, then open up to the cats and Berthe Morisot
Children of Renoir
Julie Manet, Jean and Claude Renoir, Bérard children, portraits, games and family scenes.
Animal collection · 82 worksCat paintings
Portraits, domestic scenes and relationships between figures and felines.
GenderPortraits of Renoir
Children, friends, sponsors and figures of modern society.
ArtistPierre-Auguste Renoir
All landscapes, portraits, bathers and leisure scenes.
Mother and painterBerthe Morisot
Julie at all ages, family intimacy and impressionist outlook.
SubjectChild portraits
Compare eras, poses, clothes, families and conventions.
MovementImpressionist portraits
Renoir, Morisot, Cassatt, Degas and their loved ones.
Great setImpressionists
Modern figures, landscapes and scenes from across the movement.
Julie Manet, 1887
Ordering, drawings, memories of the sessions, style, dimensions and inventory.
Morgan LibraryChild with a Cat
Julie's age, preparatory pose and new importance of the line.
Marmottan Monet MuseumJulie Manet, impressionist memory
Family, portraits, preparatory drawings and lasting relationship with Renoir.
National Gallery of ArtDry tip of Morisot
The print made after Renoir, technique and dimensions.
Musée d'OrsayJulie Manet, 1878 -1966
Biography, names, works, portraits and documentary resources.
Alpha GuideYoung girls at the piano
Renoir's childhood, music, official commission and late style.
Alpha GuideLittle Irene
Compare two child portraits commissioned from Renoir.
Alpha GuideMadame Charpentier and her children
Family, social status and ambition of the great portrait.
Ten specific answers
Frequently asked questions about Julie Manet and her cat
Who was Julie Manet?
Julie Manet, born in 1878 and died in 1966, was the daughter of the painter Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet, brother of Édouard Manet. She became an artist, author and Mrs. Ernest Rouart.
How old was Julie in Renoir's portrait?
She was eight or nine years old when her parents commissioned and had the portrait taken in 1887.
Where is Julie Manet at the cat?
The painting belongs to the Musée d'Orsay. It measures 65.5 × 53.5 cm and bears the inventory number RF 1999 13.
Why did Renoir paint Julie Manet?
His parents, friends of the painter and admirers of his talent, commissioned a faithful portrait of their daughter from him.
Are there any preparatory drawings?
Yes. The Musée d'Orsay mentions at least four studies. Renoir notably considered a more frontal pose before retaining the three-quarter view.
What does Renoir's Ingresque period mean?
It designates a phase where Renoir gives more importance to drawing, contours and the solidity of shapes, under the influence of Ingres and the old masters.
What is the role of the cat in the painting?
It creates an emotional relationship and organizes arms, hands, looks and color contrasts. It is not a simple decorative accessory.
Did Berthe Morisot take over the image?
Yes. In 1889 she created a drypoint based on the portrait of Renoir, of which the National Gallery of Art keeps a print.
Did Renoir paint Julie Manet later?
Yes. An 1894 portrait kept at the Marmottan Monet Museum shows Julie as a teenager.
Which collections extend the subject?
The collections Enfants de Renoir, Cat Paintings, Berthe Morisot, Portraits de Renoir and Portraits d'enfants are the most relevant.
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