Berthe Morisot (in silhouette) 1884

Edouard Manet made this lithograph of Berthe Morisot in the late 1860s or early 1870s, a period of significant social change in France. Morisot herself was a painter, one of a group of female artists navigating the male-dominated art world of 19th-century Paris. Manet's image of her, with its soft lines and intimate perspective, reflects a shift in artistic values. The silhouette, a popular form of portraiture at the time, is subverted here. Manet’s loose, sketch-like approach challenges the conventions of academic art. It hints at the more informal, personal relationships between artists that were becoming increasingly important in the development of modern art. To understand the full complexity of this image, it helps to look at the art criticism of the period, as well as the artists' personal correspondence. This provides insight into the changing social and institutional contexts that shaped their work.