The artwork “Boats under Construction” was created by the artist Berthe Morisot in the year 1874. It exemplifies the Impressionist movement through its application of oil on canvas as the chosen medium. This cityscape belongs to the collection of the Musée Marmottan Monet located in Paris, France. It depicts a scene of maritime activity, with emphasis on the process of shipbuilding.
In the artwork, viewers are invited into a bustling shipyard where the construction of boats is in motion. Morisot’s brushwork is loose and lively. In true Impressionist fashion, the painting captures the essence of the moment rather than the intricate details. Neutral tones are interlaced with subtle hues to suggest the activity in the shipyard. The wooden frames of ships under construction dominate the foreground, their skeletal forms hinting at the human endeavor of craftsmanship and industry. Figures of workers can be discerned engaging in various tasks, providing a snapshot of daily life by the waterfront. In the background, additional ships and buildings suggest the continuity of the urban landscape, while the sky above appears to have the soft, diffused light typical of an overcast day. Morisot used rapid, visible brushstrokes to render the scene, a hallmark of the Impressionist style, which sought to evoke sensory impressions of light and atmosphere rather than create detailed, precise representations.
