Girl in a Boat, with Geese 1889

Berthe Morisot, a prominent female Impressionist, painted "Girl in a Boat, with Geese" in oils on canvas. Morisot, who lived through a period of significant social change in 19th-century France, often focused on domestic scenes and portraits of women. Despite societal constraints on female artists, she actively participated in the avant-garde art scene. This painting is a reflection of this complexity. The girl in the boat, depicted in loose, fluid brushstrokes, embodies a sense of freedom and movement. Yet, there’s a subtle tension. As a female artist, Morisot had restricted access to public spaces, so she masterfully reinterprets leisure and the outdoors through a distinctly female lens. The presence of the geese could symbolize themes of nature and domesticity, which were traditionally associated with women. Morisot once said, "I don't think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal, and that's all I would have asked for, because I know I'm worth as much as they are." Her words reveal her desires for equality, which undoubtedly seeped into the emotional landscape of her paintings. This work invites us to consider the quiet resilience and creative expression of women artists who navigated a world that wasn't designed for them.