Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet of Violets

This striking portrait shows Berthe Morisot, a talented painter in her own right and one of the leading figures of the Impressionist movement. Manet painted her several times, and this is perhaps the most famous of those works. Dressed in black with a feathered hat, she gazes out at us with dark, expressive eyes. The loose, confident brushwork and the dramatic contrast between her dark clothing and the pale background are classic Manet, an artist who helped bridge the gap between traditional painting and the new Impressionist style emerging in 1870s Paris.

There was clearly a close bond between artist and sitter. Morisot and Manet were good friends and fellow painters, and she eventually married his younger brother Eugène. Look closely and you can spot the small bouquet of violets that gives the painting its name, a quiet detail tucked into all that black. Manet captured something alive and modern here, far from the stiff, formal portraits of earlier generations. Morisot herself reportedly loved the work, and it remains one of the most memorable images of one woman who refused to be just a muse and became a major artist instead.