1872 -1894 · Cradle, garden, Julie and family life

Morisot paints the family from the inside: sailing, garden, play and daily care become experiences of light where the child always maintains his own movement.

Motherhood appears in Berthe Morisot even before the birth of her daughter Julie. The Cradle, presented at the first impressionist exhibition in 1874, represents her sister Edma watching over her child Blanche. A maternal arm and the veil of the cradle form two parallel diagonals; the intimate scene reaches an almost architectural rigor. After Julie's birth in 1878, the artist observed his daughter with her father Eugène Manet, her nanny Pasie, cousins and playmates. Eugène Manet and his daughter in Bougival's garden reversed the usual roles: the father ensured attentive presence while Morisot painted. Julie and her daughter in Bougival's garden reversed the usual roles: the father ensured attentive presence while Morisot painted. Julie with her nanny shows that family care depends also the work of other women. Woman and child in a meadow in Bougival opens the group to air and grass, transforming proximity into circulation of touches. Morisot refuses the miniature and wise child. Julie reads, poses imperfectly, plays, turns away or follows an animal. The moving touch accompanies this autonomy. The white linen absorbs the blue of the day, the greens of the garden invade the clothes and the contours remain open. The family experience is therefore not a refuge from modernity. It gives the artist a place to rethink the outlook, responsibilities and changes of a growing body. The family experience is therefore not a refuge from modernity. It gives the artist a place to rethink the outlook, responsibilities and changes of a growing body. The family experience is therefore not a refuge from modernity. It gives the artist a place to rethink the outlook, responsibilities and changes of a growing body. The family experience is therefore not a refuge from modernity. It gives the artist a place to rethink the outlook, responsibilities and changes of a growing body. The "Maternity and children at Berthe Morisot" selection notably compares Le Berceau and Eugène Manet and his daughter in Bougival's garden. His reading favors drawing.

Morisot does not freeze the child in adult tenderness: she paints a mobile presence, already autonomous, around which the world must adjust.