More than $3 million has been fundraised by the NGV Foundation towards the acquisition of La Broderie (Embroidery), 1889, by Berthe Morisot, a leading French Impressionist who was at the forefront of the movement in Paris in the late nineteenth century. Morisot was the only female artist to show in the first Impressionism Exhibition in 1874 and La Broderie is the first painting by this important artist to enter an Australian public collection.The painting depicts Morisot’s favourite model, her daughter Julie Manet, alongside Morisot’s step-niece Alice Gamby, as they embroider together. The painting is demonstrative of Morisot’s celebrated and distinctive style, often characterised by loose brushstrokes. The painting’s animated surface captures the visual vibrancy of Impressionist painting, while the soft, diffused use of light reflects Morisot’s mastery of colour.
Like many Impressionist painters, Morisot often preferred to paint en plein air (in the outdoors) and always balanced landscapes with her figurative paintings in the Impressionist exhibitions. However, due to the societal restraints placed upon women of the period, it was difficult for Morisot to move about the city with the ease of her male counterparts. Thus, she turned her attention towards figurative paintings focused on domestic scenes, depicting intimate subjects drawn from her everyday family life, such as that in La Broderie.
During her lifetime, Morisot’s works often outsold her male colleagues. However, her untimely death at just fifty-four years old prevented her from participating in the latter part of the Impressionism movement, when Impressionist artists were at their height and fully embraced by the artistic establishment. La Broderie was exhibited at the major posthumous exhibition of Morisot’s work curated by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas in 1896. It has since been included in every major retrospective of Morisot’s work from her death until the present day, highlighting it as an important work in her oeuvre.
La Broderie is framed in an original late nineteenth-century gold frame. The outer ornament of laurel leaves is typical of classical revival style frames, while the decoration in the middle of the frame displays some Rococo elements.
Tony Ellwood AM, Director, National Gallery of Victoria, said: ‘Today, while Berthe Morisot is represented in the collections of several prestigious museums around the world, the majority of her works remain in private collections belonging to the descendants of her friends and family. This makes the acquisition of La Broderie – the first painting by Morisot to enter an Australian collection – an especially momentous one. This important work by the doyenne of French Impressionism is one that Victorians, interstate and international visitors alike will enjoy for many generations to come.
‘The NGV Annual Appeal reflects our community’s great passion for growing the NGV Collection. It is through the generous contributions of our supporters that we are able to build the NGV Collection, creating a legacy for all Australians to enjoy, now and into the future. The NGV warmly thanks Barry Janes and Paul Cross, Paula Fox AO and Fox Family Foundation, Norman Bloom and Pauline Bloom, Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie and John Wylie AM, Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family, The Bowden Marstan Foundation, Ken Harrison AM and Jill Harrison OAM, John and Rose Downer Foundation, Tim Fairfax AC and Gina Fairfax who have made leadership gifts towards this important acquisition as well as donors to the 2021 NGV Foundation Annual Dinner and 2021 NGV Annual Appeal,’ said Ellwood.
ABOUT BERTHE MORISOT
Berthe Morisot was a defining artist of the Impressionist movement. Born in 1841, Morisot was prevented from formal art education because of her gender. She instead studied Old Master paintings at the Louvre
with private tutors and began exhibiting at the prestigious Salon de Paris in 1864.
Morisot entered Paris’s avant-garde art circles through her close friendship with Édouard Manet, who eventually became her brother-in-law. She went on to exhibit at seven of the eight Impressionist group exhibitions and was recognised as one of the movement’s most innovative practitioners.
Morisot is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée d’Orsay, Paris and the National Gallery, London.
Berthe Morisot’s La Broderie 1889 will be on display from 3 November 2021 at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Further information, including the full list of donors who generously supported the 2021 Annual Appeal, is available via the NGV website.
This article was sourced from a media release sent by NGV Media & Public Affairs
