Berthe Morisot Biography
Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot was a French painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as "The Impressionists".
In 1864, Morisot exhibited for the first time in the highly esteemed Salon de Paris. Sponsored by the government and judged by Academicians, the Salon was the official, annual exhibition of the Académie des beaux-arts in Paris. Her work was selected for exhibition in six subsequent Salons until, in 1874, she joined the 'rejected' Impressionists in the first of their own exhibitions, including works by Cézanne, Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley. It was held at the studio of the photographer Nadar. Morisot went on to exhibit in all bar one of the following eight impressionist expos from 1874 to 1886.
Morisot was married to Eugène Manet, brother of her friend and collaborator Édouard Manet.
In 1894 Morisot was described by art critic Gustave Geffroy as one of "Les Trois Grandes Dames" (The three great ladies) of Impressionism alongside Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt.
