In the Bois de Boulogne
Berthe Morisot·1880
Historical Context
Painted in 1880 and now in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, this canvas shows women in the Bois de Boulogne, the fashionable urban forest on Paris's western edge that provided Impressionist painters with an ideal setting for the subject of bourgeois leisure outdoors. Morisot returned to the Bois repeatedly throughout her career, finding there the combination of natural light, fashionable dress, and modern female leisure that defined her thematic world. The Nationalmuseum's holding of this work reflects the early international collecting of French Impressionism.
Technical Analysis
The dappled forest light is rendered through Morisot's characteristic play of broken strokes across the canvas, the figures' light-colored clothing catching highlights while the surrounding foliage provides deeper, cooler tonalities. The composition is informal, the figures placed as if encountered mid-stroll rather than posed.
