Nice Harbour

Painted in 1882 during Morisot's Nice winter and now in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, this canvas of Nice's harbour captures the Côte d'Azur's distinctive combination of Mediterranean light, yacht traffic, and southern architecture. Nice harbour during this period was a fashionable destination for northern European visitors escaping winter, and its activity provided Morisot with lively subject matter quite different from her Parisian and Normandy work. The Cologne museum's holding adds a German institutional dimension to Morisot's international collecting history.

The harbour's boats and water are rendered with Morisot's sun-brightened Mediterranean palette, the deep southern blue of sea and sky contrasting with the warm white and ochre of harbour buildings. The composition opens generously toward the water, Morisot handling the reflective harbour surface with characteristic lightness and speed.