Rating and value of paintings by Berthe Morisot

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Rating and value of the artist Berthe Morisot    

Berthe Morisot was an important 19th-century painter. She was part of the Realist, Impressionist and other movements. Today, prices for her works are rising under the auctioneer's hammer.

Her oils on canvas are particularly prized, especially by Canadian buyers, and the price at which they sell on the art market ranges from €100 to €75,000, a considerable delta but one that speaks volumes about the value that can be attributed to Berthe Morisot's works.

In 2013, the oil on canvas Après le déjeuner, dating from 1881, sold for €210,000,000, whereas it was estimated at €36,000 to €59,000, twice the low estimate.

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Style and technique of the artist Berthe Morisot

For Berthe Morisot, the question of touch seems to be posed in terms of immediacy and lightness.

We know of his attachment to a style of painting in which gesture translates fleeting sensations - bursts of light and chromatic vibrations - to the detriment of precise contours and academic rigor.

"You have to paint what you feel, not exactly what you see", she declared, marking her belonging to a modernity where vision mingles with emotion.

Towards the 1870s, his technique became more refined, and his brushstrokes almost transparent, skimming the canvas to better capture the fluidity of the moment.

Morisot replaces the solid structure of the male compositions of the period with an airy lightness, where forms seem to dissolve in diffused light.

This style of painting, echoed in the works of Renoir and Monet, nevertheless retains a singularity: an almost tactile intimacy, particularly in his portraits of women and children.

As Paul Valéry wrote, "she painted air, that which circulates between things". This impalpable materiality of the void, which she boldly mastered, made her a key figure in Impressionism, where the erasure of contours became the expression of a more subtle, almost vibrant presence.

Berthe Morisot and Impressionism

The artistic movement to which Berthe Morisot belongs, Impressionism, is defined by a revolution in the way we look at things and a liberation of gesture.

How, in an era marked by academicism and its constraints, did artists like Morisot manage to impose a style of painting in which light, immediacy and sensation took precedence over narrative and detail?

This movement, initiated in the 1860s by figures such as Monet, Renoir and Degas, rejected the rigidity of the official salons to embrace an aesthetic based on direct observation and the play of perception.

Morisot, fully embracing this approach, enriched its principles. To the dissolution of contours and vibrant brushstrokes, she added a dimension of intimacy and grace, magnifying scenes of domestic life or portraits of women.

Where Monet captures the fleeting reflections of water and Renoir exalts the joy of bodies in light, Morisot focuses on revealing the soul of characters and the poetry of interior spaces.

This movement, which redefined the boundaries of painting, rejected monumentality in favor of a relentless search for variations in atmosphere and sensation.

As a critic of the time pointed out, Impressionism transforms each canvas into an ephemeral fragment of life, transfigured by emotion.

Morisot, with her finesse and singularity, perfectly illustrates this innovative spirit, anchoring Impressionism not only in its century, but in a timeless modernity.

The life of Berthe Morisot    

It is precisely in Berthe Morisot's trajectory that the essence of a singularly modern vocation is revealed: how can we explain, in a bourgeois milieu where expectations of a woman were limited to domestic intimacy, the audacity of an artistic career pursued within a movement as revolutionary as Impressionism?

Born in Bourges in 1841 into a cultured family, she and her sister Edma benefited from a rigorous artistic education, marked by apprenticeships with Corot.

From the 1860s, his work was part of a fruitful dialogue with landscape painting, between classical tradition and the quest for atmospheric truth.

Morisot quickly established herself as one of the leading figures of the emerging modern movement, with her subtle approach to exploring the nuances of light and the moment.

Her marriage in 1874 to Eugène Manet, brother of the famous Édouard, did not mark a retreat, but rather an affirmation of her place in artistic circles.

She exhibited regularly with the Impressionists, becoming one of the few women to join this movement, not as an exception, but as an equal.

In the artistic landscape of her time, Morisot thwarted expectations. While Renoir and Monet captured crowds and lush gardens, she chose intimate scenes, everyday life illuminated by a silent poetry.

By the Belle Époque, her name was quietly but authoritatively emerging as that of an artist capable of fusing life and art into a vibrant material, where each painting seems to whisper the radiance of a suspended moment.

With the first retrospectives organized after his death in 1895, his work emerged as a link between the intimacy of the 19th century and the brilliance of the pictorial revolutions to come.

Works by the Morisot sisters: Berthe, Edma...

Unfortunately, the work is sometimes not signed by Berthe Morisot herself, but by her older sister, Edma, who doesn't have the same market value as her sister.

The Morisot sisters were born in 19th-century France, where certain ideas about female education were beginning to emerge.

By 1850, 2/3 of French girls had the right to attend elementary school, but unfortunately only to learn the rudiments needed to run a household: how to do some sums, how to read and write, and above all how to do housework and bring up children.

Edma Morisot, also a talented artist, was active during the Impressionist period and took part in several exhibitions alongside her sister and other renowned Impressionist artists.

Her paintings were often portraits and scenes of daily life, in a style similar to Berthe's.

However, unlike Berthe, Edma chose to end her artistic career after her marriage in 1894, which limited recognition of her work.

Her paintings were often portraits and scenes of daily life, with a style similar to Berthe's. However, unlike Berthe, Edma chose to end her artistic career after her marriage in 1894, which limited recognition of her work.

A signed work by Edma Morisot could be estimated at 500 to 800 euros, subject to a nice surprise, as auction results sometimes exceed 2,000 to 3,000 euros.

Focus on Le Berceau, Berthe Morisot

It was in Le Berceau (1872) that Berthe Morisot condensed the essence of a painting that was both intimate and resolutely modern: how to capture, in the apparent simplicity of a domestic scene, a universal truth about maternity and affection?

This painting, which shows his sister Edma watching over her sleeping child, stands out as a silent manifesto, where tenderness becomes the heart of a pictorial quest.

Among Morisot's contemporaries, Monet and Renoir often explored outdoor subjects, bathed in natural light. Here, by contrast, the enclosed space provides a setting for the intensity of the visual exchange between mother and child.

The veil that separates the maternal figure from the cradle becomes a filter, both barrier and link, reflecting the fragility of this moment.

As with Degas ' interior scenes, the economy of composition invites the eye to enter a hushed atmosphere, but Morisot adds her own distinctive brushwork vibrancy.

The light, fluid brushstrokes seem to skim the canvas, evoking rather than describing. Unlike Manet, whose subject matter can be more assertive, Morisot favors an ethereal, almost diaphanous pictorial style, giving the painting a dreamlike quality.

Delicate tones - off-whites, soft pinks - capture a diffuse light, enveloping the figures in a palpable softness.

This approach is reminiscent of the work of Mary Cassattanother Impressionist artist fascinated by maternal ties, but where Cassatt focuses on gestures, Morisot favors atmosphere.

In Le Berceau, it's not just maternity that is represented, but the very idea of protection and contemplation. In this painting, Morisot elevates an everyday scene to the status of an Impressionist icon, transcending the private to touch the universal.

Berthe Morisot's influence on her century

Berthe Morisot's imprint on her century is based on a double audacity: that of conquering a place in an environment dominated by men, and that of renewing painting with her own sensibility.

How, in the heart of the XIXᵉ century, could an artist impose such a singular gaze on everyday life, while breaking free from academic conventions?

Morisot's choices upset expectations: far from grand historical compositions or grandiose landscapes, she favored the intimacy of family scenes, the evanescence of a moment, the furtive glow of a light.

At a time when Monet, Renoir and Manet were redefining the rules of painting, she took an active part in Impressionist exhibitions, asserting a pictorial language in her own right.

His light, vibrant touch, his concern to capture the impalpable, resonate with the research of his contemporaries, while bringing an unprecedented emotional depth.

While Degas explores the movements of dancers and Cassatt maternal relationships, Morisot's art is part of a more diffuse, almost introspective quest, where each canvas becomes a meditation on time.

Her influence extends far beyond her own era: she opens up perspectives for future generations of women artists, offering them not only a model of success, but also a way to express their own vision of the world.

Morisot, in celebrating the fragility and beauty of the ordinary, bequeaths a legacy that transcends fashions and eras.

Recognizing Berthe Morisot's signature   

The artist often signs his full name in small letters at the bottom of his paintings. Copies may exist, so expertise is important.

Knowing the value of a work

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