Berthe Morisot, the first lady of Impressionism

by Margaret Shennan

Berthe Morisot was one of France's most distinguished female painters. Yet, although her work hangs in galleries around the western world, she remains the least well known of the French Impressionists. Mystery and myth have surrounded Morisot since her death a century ago. Her life was reputedly one of tranquil domesticity and genteel fulfillment, but nothing could be further from the truth. What was the nature of her relationship with Edouard Manet, the most controversial artist of his day - a liaison which dominated not only her artistic but also her personal life, and led her to marry his brother? Why, in spite of political and cultural connections, did she find happiness and public recognition so elusive? Was she descended from Fragonard? This biography, the first full-length examination of Morisot's life, explores these questions in the context of many other relationships and the dramatic social and political backcloth of her time, and reveals how she came to have an important pla