Madame Théodore Gobillard (Yves Morisot, 1838–1893)

Yves Morisot was the elder sister of Berthe Morisot, Degas's contemporary and a key figure in Impressionism. This 1869 portrait painted by Degas after Yves married Théodore Gobillard shows the artist's early mastery of psychological portraiture — placing the subject in a domestic interior, slightly informal, allowing her personality to emerge rather than posing her conventionally. Degas's connection to the Morisot family was close and artistically generative: Berthe credited him with encouraging her to exhibit, and his example of unflinching observation of modern bourgeois women directly influenced her own practice. The Met's portrait is a key document of this creative relationship.

Oil on canvas with Degas's early realistic finish influenced by Ingres and the Spanish masters. The composition is relatively conventional compared to his later work, but the sitter's slightly turned head and the careful rendering of the domestic setting behind her show his emerging interest in psychological space.