Berthe Morisot biography and was born at Bourges, France on January 14, 1841.  She grew up in a bourgeois family which, in a break from usual practice, encouraged Berthe and her sister, Edme, in their painting.  She first studied with Guichard, a follower of Ingres, but in 1862 she made the acquaintance of Corot, and went over to his disciple Oudinot.  Her next great influence was Manet, and it was under his guidance that she took up figure-painting as well as landscapes. Her paintings formed an important addition to all but one impressionist exhibit from 1874 through 1885. Her most notable works, including Young Woman at the Dance (1880; Paris) and La Toilette (Art Inst., Chicago), are painted in clear, luminous colors. Her early subject matter included landscapes and marine scenes; later she most frequently painted tranquil portraits of mothers and children. Morisot's works have been particularly popular in the United States, and many important works are in American collections.
 

As a doctrinaire Impressionist as well as a member of the haute bourgeoisie, Morisot painted what she experienced on a daily basis. Her paintings reflect the nineteenth century cultural restrictions of her class and gender. She avoided urban and street scenes as well as the nude figure. Like her fellow female Impressionist, Mary Cassatt, she focused on domestic life and portraits in which she could use family and personal friends as models.
 

Morisot continued to paint and exhibit in her later years, receiving her first solo exhibition only a few weeks after her husband's death in 1892. While selling paintings had never been a priority for Morisot, she actively collected works by her colleagues, including Manet and Monet. In these years, Julie became her mother's constant companion, painting alongside her just as Edma had done years earlier, joining her visits with Renoir, Monet, and Degas, and helping to fill the void left by Eugène's death. In 1895, Morisot died from pneumonia at the age of 54, leaving the majority of her works and collection to Julie who served as Morisot's champion by lending her works to international exhibitions until her own death in 1966, ensuring her mother a prominent place in the French avant-garde tradition.
 

Although Morisot was unusual for her class and time in that she successfully pursued an artistic career whilst combining it with marriage and motherhood, she never forsaked her bourgeoisie background. In her art and in her lifestyle, she reflected the standards of behaviour and propriety required of the nineteenth century bourgeoisies. Through her depictions of her sisters, their families, and her own daughter Julie Manet, Berthe Morisot portrays an intimacy between women within the realism of the feminine world. Her art remains as a record for the twentieth century and beyond of the feminine world of the bourgeoisies.

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