MURA · THE COLLECTION · BERTHE MORISOT

Reading

Berthe Morisot painted her sister Edma reading in a meadow in 1873, the year before she joined the first Impressionist exhibition. The canvas, 46 by 71.8 centimetres, is in the Cleveland Museum of Art, a gift of the Hanna Fund in 1950. It was painted in the last year in which Morisot still showed at the Paris Salon.

Berthe Morisot · 1873 · Oil on canvas · France, 19th century · story written 25 September 2026

What you are looking at

The Cleveland Museum of Art writes: "Morisot's sister, Edma, posed for this painting of a woman seated on her shawl in a field, her eyes on the pages of a book, with a parasol and fan discarded on the grass. Her white dress reflects the light and shadows of the outdoor setting; its delicate floral pattern echoes the meadow's wildflowers." Edma (1839–1921) had trained alongside Berthe and, according to Wikipedia, had less time to paint after marrying the naval officer Adolphe Pontillon in 1869 and moving to Cherbourg.

How it was painted

The two sisters studied with Geoffroy-Alphonse Chocarne and, from 1858, with Joseph-Benoît Guichard, who introduced them to Corot in 1861; under his encouragement they began painting out of doors. Morisot exhibited at the Salon from 1864 until 1873. The museum's technical examination adds a detail about this picture: "X-ray examination reveals that Morisot revised Edma's eyes, which previously looked directly at the beholder, in a manner more typical of Manet's figures. Whereas women in Manet's paintings often return the viewer's look, Morisot's figures are usually absorbed in tasks or private reflection." In 1874 Morisot married Manet's brother Eugène and took part in the Impressionists' first group show; she never returned to the Salon.

Where it went

The painting was owned by the landscape painter Édouard Daliphard of Poissy, after which it seems to have disappeared from public view until the twentieth century. By 1929 it belonged to Gabriel Thomas, Morisot's first cousin, and later to Édouard Molyneux in Paris. The dealer César de Hauke sold it to the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1950. The credit line is Gift of the Hanna Fund, accession number 1950.89. It has been lent to "Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot" at Cleveland (1993–94) and to the Morisot retrospective in Lille and Martigny in 2002. It is currently not on view.

Why it is in Mura

Part of the Impressionist Life collection, mood "pastoral": a reader in a pale dress in long grass, a picture of attention that asks for none.