The artwork, “Portrait of the Artist’s Daughter, Julie Manet, at Gorey,” was created by the artist Berthe Morisot in the year 1886. Morisot, who was a pivotal figure in the Impressionist movement, employed pastel as her medium for this piece. The genre of this work is a portrait, and it currently resides in a private collection.
The artwork captures a candid moment of a young girl, presumably Julie Manet, the daughter of the artist, as she appears engrossed in an activity. The girl is depicted sitting, with a relaxed body posture, holding what seems to be a book or a journal in her hands, her gaze directed downward towards it. Her attire, a light-colored dress with a soft, dappled pattern, conveys a sense of casualness and comfort while also blending harmoniously with the setting depicted.
Morisot’s technique is characterized by loose and swift applications of color, which is typical of the Impressionist style. In the background, gestural strokes of green and blue suggest a lush garden or park, with a fragment of an architectural structure barely visible between the foliage. The play of light and shadow, along with the vibrant yet serene color palette, creates a sense of immediacy and atmospheric effect, inviting the viewer to share a moment in the young subject’s life. Through this portrait, Morisot not only immortalizes a personal family moment but also exemplifies the essence of Impressionism in capturing the transient effects of light and color in everyday scenes.
