The Cleveland Museum of Art鈥檚 entrancing spring exhibition on the 19th-century French Impressionist painters 脡douard Manet and Berthe Morisot takes a deep dive into how two great artists influenced each other through the best evidence available: their work.
It also offers a glimpse at how art historians sometimes get such stories wrong. Manet and Morisot both recognized each other鈥檚 merits despite the social strictures of their time, which privileged men. But art historians have long viewed Manet (1832-1883) as the dominant figure in their friendship and professional relationship. The exhibition corrects the record by delivering overdue high recognition to Morisot (1841-1895).
The show, which is on view through July 5 and , is filled with blissful images of beautifully dressed upper-class women boating on shimmering lakes, reading novels on green lawns, tending children or preparing for a night out.
What makes these seemingly anodyne subjects revolutionary for their time is the way they were painted, with saturated color and a new freedom of touch intended to convey shifting conditions of light and weather associated with Impressionism.
Paris itself is also an important subject, in views suggesting the impact of vast urban projects led by planner George-Eugene Haussmann, which carved vast new boulevards through the city鈥檚 medieval quarters.
The exhibition鈥檚 big point is that Manet and Morisot, who became in-laws after Morisot married Manet鈥檚 brother, Eugene, recognized that each possessed valuable skills as they strove to advance painting beyond cliches of historical and mythological themes promoted by the government-backed Academie des Beaux Arts.
The delicious twist is that Manet, revered as the father of French Impressionism, took more from Morisot than she did from him 鈥斺�痑t least to judge by examples on view in the show.
And Morisot, despite the obstacles she faced in a society that treated women as second-class, never doubted her own value, even if she lacked full recognition as an artist.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal, and that鈥檚 all I would have asked, for I know I鈥檓 worth as much as them,鈥� she wrote in a notebook quoted in the show鈥檚 catalog.
An art historical first
Organized by Curator Emily Beeny of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where it debuted last year, the show assembles 36 paintings and seven works on paper by Manet and Morisot. It鈥檚 the first exhibition that looks closely at how the artists influenced each other.
As Beeny writes in the show鈥檚 catalog, 鈥渢heir pictures trace the evolution of a singular friendship by turns collaborative and competitive, playful and charged, lit by an enduring mutual sympathy.鈥欌��
Through side-by-side juxtapositions of principal artworks, the exhibition shows that Manet and Morisot conducted a serious back-and-forth artistic dialogue throughout the 15 years of their relationship, which lasted until Manet鈥檚 untimely death at age 51 from complications of syphilis.
The artists were both financially well off and free to pursue their artistic passions, although Morisot had to contend with worried disapproval from her mother over her choice of career.
Morisot came from a family of government administrators; Manet鈥檚 grandfather amassed property north of Paris that provided passive income from steady rents.
The two likely met at the Louvre in 1868, where both painted copies. They developed a friendship that centered on their respect for each other鈥檚 work, even though art historians have long viewed Manet as the primary influencer, while Morisot has been tagged as more important as a model for portraits by Manet rather than as a painter in her own right.
Muse or peer?
The show introduces the topic of Morisot-as- model in its first room, which is dominated by an extraordinary 1872 Manet portrait of Morisot. He portrays Morisot in a bust-length portrait 鈥斺�痚ffectively a closeup 鈥斺�痙ressed in black, in raking light that highlights the beauty of her features and the mesmerizing gaze of her deep brown eyes.
Though strikingly intimate, the portrait doesn鈥檛 smolder with erotic undertones, as is the case with other Manet portraits of well-dressed women in the show.
鈥淢anet was married when the two artists met,鈥欌�� Beeny states in the catalog, 鈥渁nd so, for a woman of Morisot鈥檚 class and unfailing social correctness, there can have been no question of a sexual relationship. Whatever attraction may have existed between them would not have passed flirtation: Manet鈥檚 default mode of social interaction in any case, most especially with women.鈥�
Taking pointers
If Manet and Morisot weren鈥檛 physical with each other, there is certainly evidence that they were peering over each other鈥檚 shoulders and taking artistic pointers.
For instance, Manet was fond of using black as a dramatic foil for areas of brilliant color in his paintings. Morisot, perhaps following Manet鈥檚 lead, also tried using black, which wasn鈥檛 favored by the Impressionists.
Her approach is typified by The Cleveland Museum of Art鈥檚 1873 painting, 鈥淩eading,鈥欌�� which possibly depicts the artist鈥檚 sister, Edma, reading a book while seated in a rural landscape in a flowing white dress. The painting鈥檚 luminous color scheme of greens, whites, soft pink and blue, is set off by precisely placed accents of black, including a choker around the woman鈥檚 neck.
Manet, for his part, appears to have picked up Morisot鈥檚 choice of subjects.
His 1873 masterpiece titled 鈥淭he Railway,鈥欌�� portrays a stylish young woman seated on a bench outside a rail yard as a young girl beside her peers through a wrought iron fence at a cloud of steam released by a passing engine.
The painting encapsulates the impact of modernity on everyday life in Paris, and has long been a star of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It also appears to reference earlier related works by Morisot.
Shocking Paris
At the time he met Morisot, Manet was already known for bringing museum-scale wall power to subjects that sometimes shocked 19th-century Parisians because of their frank treatment of contemporary realities.
His 1863 painting, 鈥淥lympia,鈥欌�� scandalized viewers at the elite, government-sponsored Salon exhibition in Paris in 1865 by portraying a reclining nude model in the guise of a Parisian courtesan, or prostitute, rather than more acceptably as a mythological goddess.
Manet at the time regarded himself as a realist inspired by old masters such as the 17th-century painter Diego Velazquez, and the bold graphic quality of contemporary Japanese woodblock prints, which he and other contemporaries collected.
Rather than participate in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, Manet continued to seek acceptance for his work in Salon exhibits, despite the scandal caused by 鈥淥lympia.鈥欌��
Morisot also sought to display her work at the Salon but was the only woman to participate in the inaugural Impressionist exhibition. Alongside the American Mary Cassatt, who exhibited with the group starting in 1879, Morisot was one of two important woman artist associated with the movement.
The magic of brushwork
Brush-handling, akin to a pianist鈥檚 touch on the keyboard, is a key focus of the exhibition, which encourages viewers to look closely at how Manet and Morisot created artistic magic.
Morisot developed her style based on her love of painting outdoors and on her fresh and lively way with a brush. She also knew one of the most important things a painter can know: when to stop. Her restraint led her to leave blank areas of canvas at the edges of her paintings, all the better to preserve their look of spontaneity.
Manet sought to achieve an all-at-one-go liveliness in his own brushwork, but he sometimes fell short. He often scraped away failed passages and started over.
鈥淢anet was a studio painter in origin and essence, generally producing pictures he hoped would look dashed off 鈥榓t the first go鈥� only through protracted revisions, carefully concealed,鈥欌�� Beeny writes, citing extensive scholarship on secrets hidden in Manet鈥檚 surfaces.
The side-by-side comparisons in the show are telling and direct about the differing approaches of the two artists.
Manet鈥檚 鈥淏oating,鈥欌�� 1874-76, portrays a man dressed in white at the tiller of sailboat as a young woman in a blue striped dress reclines against the starboard gunwale. It hangs next to Morisot鈥檚 鈥淪ummer鈥檚 Day,鈥欌�� 1879, depicting a pair of women enjoying a boat ride in the Bois de Boulogne park.
Manet鈥檚 painting is dominated by large shapes that suppress shadows and emphasize a bold, visual flatness 鈥斺�痟is trademark style. But he treats the woman鈥檚 dress in flickering, Impressionist-style strokes that apparently are an effort to emulate Morisot鈥檚 flickering touch, which suffuses her entire scene.
There鈥檚 no judgment here about whose work is better. The point, however subtle, is that Manet, viewed as the senior partner in the artistic colloquy, apparently felt he had more to learn from Morisot than vice versa.
Contrasting viewpoints
The show and the catalog also suggest that Manet and Morisot viewed similar subjects from different viewpoints because of their gender. Manet鈥檚 1877 painting of a woman standing before a mirror as she tightens her corset employs dashing brushwork reminiscent of Morisot鈥檚 vibrant touch. But it also feels as if it was painted from the viewpoint of a male visitor excited by a visit to a distinctly feminine realm.
Morisot鈥檚 adjacent painting of a young woman arranging her hair while seated in front of a mirror communicates a sense of reverie centering on the woman鈥檚 interior thoughts, not how she might be perceived by an outsider.
Some contemporary critics questioned what they called a lack of finish in Morisot鈥檚 work. Others, however, saw in it a re-emergence of the delicate ebullience of 18th-century French Rococo art.
It鈥檚 fascinating in this context to know that Morisot was in fact the granddaughter of the famous Rococo painter Jean Honore Fragonard, who died in 1806, 35 years before her birth. Comparing their paintings, side by side, could be intriguing.
While the current exhibition highlights Morisot鈥檚 artistic rapport with Manet, it also elevates in America her visibility and special gifts as an artist. The last major retrospective devoted to her work was held in Paris in 2012 at the Mus茅e Marmottan Monet. The next step in fully appreciating her work would be a full-scale solo exhibition in this country.
