In the Bois de Boulogne

Additional texteDescription: Morisot’s open-air paintings with their sketching technique and outstanding play of colours received attention at the impressionist exhibitions. She was critical of contemporary bourgeois norms of femininity and portrayed the intimate relationships between mothers and daughters. Bourgeois women were reduced to the private sphere of the home and a few public spaces such as department stores, theatres, restaurants, and parks. Description: Berthe Morisot took part in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, and since then belonged to the core of the group. Contemporary reviewers described her paintings as the very essence of Impressionism. Many critics regarded the group’s style to be exceedingly feminine – the sketchy character, the focus on colour rather than outline, the emphasis on transience and the fleeting moment – and therefore found Morisot’s technique to be quite suitable for a woman. At the Impressionist exhibition in 1880, she showed twelve paintings, including this one.