Zelfportret met Julie Manet, bekend als ‘De tekenles’

About this artwork

opschrift, verso, handgeschreven in potlood: ‘Berthe Morisot/ tp-290N’ Lugt

Art Historical Context

Berthe Morisot's *Zelfportret met Julie Manet, bekend ‘De tekenles’* (Self-Portrait with Manet, known asThe Drawing Lesson*), created around 1888, captures an intimate mother-daughter moment. The French Impressionist painter depicts herself instructing her young daughter Julie—born in 1878—in drawing, embodying Morisot's recurring theme of domestic life infused with artistic passion. As one of the few women the Impressionist circle, Morisot brought a fresh, feminine perspective to movement, emphasizing light, spontaneity, and everyday scenes often overlooked by her male contemporaries like Monet and Renoir. This small-scale drypoint print (189 × 138 mm) showcases Morisot's experimentation with printmaking techniques. Drypoint involves scratching directly into a metal plate, producing rich, velvety lines with a tactile burr that adds emotional depth and immediacy—ideal for such a personal subject. The work's verso bears a handwritten pencil inscription, "Berthe Morisot / tp-290N" (referencing Lugt's catalog of collectors' marks), attesting to its authenticity and provenance. Dated to 1888 with possible editions into the 1930s, this piece highlights Morisot's lasting influence, bridging Impressionism's heyday and modern print traditions. It invites visitors to appreciate her skill in blending portraiture with pedagogy, a tender glimpse into an artist's world.

About the Artist

Berthe Morisot · 1841–1895

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) was a founding member of the Impressionist movement and one of the most significant women artists of the 19th century. Born into an affluent bourgeois family in Bourges, France—her mother was a great-niece of the Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard—Morisot received serious artistic training despite the social constraints facing women of her class. Under the guidance of...