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This is the first major exhibition dedicated to the artistic exchange between French Impressionists Édouard Manet (1832–1883) and Berthe Morisot (1841–1895). Manet was the era’s great pioneer of modern painting, and Morisot, the only woman to exhibit under her own name in the original Impressionist group. Unfolding over a period of 15 years (1868–1883), this exhibition traces the evolution of a friendship between two groundbreaking artists. The story of their relationship has often been told through Manet’s early portraits of Morisot, with Morisot’s own work treated as an offshoot of Manet’s.
SF/Arts Curator Insight
For the first time, a major museum exhibition delves into Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot’s friendship and influence on each other. Pairs and groups of works by the 19th-century French painters — prominent figures in the Impressionist movement who became family in 1874 when she wed his brother — draw on public and private collections worldwide. The earliest pieces on view date to 1868, the start of their friendship, with paintings of Morisot by Manet, including the masterpiece “The Balcony.” From there, several shifts in their relationship are explored. In another first, a section of the show brings together a series of paintings by both artists, portraying the four seasons as fashionable women: Morisot’s “Summer” (1878) and “Winter” (1880), and the Manet paintings they inspired, “Spring” (1881) and “Autumn” (1881). The exhibition concludes with a look at Morisot’s collection of Manet’s work and how it enabled her to carry on their artistic dialogue after his death in 1883.
Anh-Minh Le
Contributing Writer
The Legion of Honor, formally known as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, is a part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
The Legion of Honor, formally known as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, is a part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.