The simply sketched young boy you are looking at in this canvas, part of which has been left blank, is none other than Berthe Morisot’s nephew.
The lively, but vague, blurry forms, give this portrait an impression of instantaneousness. Born into a cultivated bourgeois family, Berthe Morisot initially painted for pleasure before making it her passion and career. Her different teachers very quickly noticed her talent and encouraged her to follow in the footsteps of her sister Edma who had trained with Camille Corot. The latter introduced them to painting in the open-air which they absolutely adored. In 1874, the artist married Eugène Manet and became Edouard Manet’s sister-in-law, sitting for him on many occasions. His influence was a determining factor in her work.
In 1876, Berthe Morisot had already taken part in the Society of “Associated Anonymous Artists” and most of its members went on to form the Impressionist group. Initially, the only woman artist among them, she was later joined by painters like the American, Mary Cassatt, who exhibited alongside her. She employed her lively brushwork and pale colour palette to depict the modern subjects made fashionable by the Impressionists, such as intimate family scenes or the daily life of her contemporaries.