The artwork entitled “The Sewing Lesson (aka The Artist’s Daughter, Julie, with Her Nanny)” is an oil on canvas painting created by Berthe Morisot in 1884. This painting is an exemplar of the Impressionist movement, which is known for its emphasis on light, movement, and everyday subjects. As a genre painting, it captures a scene from daily life, in this case, a quiet moment centered around the act of sewing.
In the artwork, two figures are depicted in an intimate indoor setting. To the right, a young girl—identified as Julie, the artist’s daughter—is seated with her attention focused on a piece of fabric in her hands, possibly engaged in sewing. Her nanny, sitting close beside her, leans over, appearing to offer guidance or perhaps to work on the fabric herself. The warmth between the two figures is tangible, with the nanny’s posture suggesting care and attentiveness toward the girl.
The painting’s technique is characteristic of Impressionism, with loose, expressive brushstrokes that give a sense of immediacy and vivacity. The color palette is soft yet varied, creating a lively interplay of light and shadow within the domestic interior. The background appears to be a room with windows, through which light filters in, casting hues across the space and contributing to the atmosphere of a calm domestic moment captured in time.
Morisot’s work in this painting is indicative of her interest in the lives of women and children, and the subtle dynamics of their relationships. It exemplifies her ability to convey depth of emotion and narrative through the genre of domestic scenes, a subject matter she returned to frequently in her career as one of the leading female Impressionist painters.
