MORISOT BERTHE: (1841-1895)

MORISOT BERTHE: (1841-1895) French Painter. Morisot was married to Eugene Manet, brother of her close friend and colleague Edouard Manet. She was a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists. In 1874, she joined the "rejected" Impressionists by the Academie des beaux-arts in the first of their own exhibitions, which included Cezanne, Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley, which was held at the studio of the photographer Nadar. A rare and lengthy A.L.S., ` B.M.´, with her initials, four pages, 8vo, n.p., n.d., to her niece Paulette, in French. Morisot, in her late years, thanks her correspondent for her letter and explains what is her husband and her own updated health situation, stating in part ` Ma chère petite Paulette, je suis bien touchée de ta lettre, j´ai toujours su que tu avais du coeur et que tu répondais à l´affection que ton oncle et moi avons pour toi. Il est beaucoup mieux...mon esprit inquiet va au devant des complications de l´avenir. Ta mère comprendra ici mieux que toi, nous sommes à un âge où une fois touchés par le malheur nous pourrions ne devoir jamais nous relever´ (Translation: " My dear little Paulette, I am very touched by your letter, I always knew that you had a heart and that you responded to the affection that your uncle and I have for you. He is much better...my worried mind goes ahead of the complications of the future. Your mother will understand better than you, we are at an age where once touched by misfortune we may never have to get up again") Further Morisot refers to writing and painting and gives her advice to her niece, saying ` J´ai lu ta lettre à ton oncle, elle lui a fait grand plaisir, il a visité l´Auvergne dans sa jeunesse... et a trouvé que tu décrivais parfaitement le pays. Nous sommes deux à te reconnaitre un petit talent littéraire que tu devrais cultiver, tu ne ferais pas tort à la peinture, au contraire, je crois que l´un aide l´autre et je pressens que dans quelques années d´ici, la mode sera aux femmes écrivains. Si on reçoit le Figaro là-bas, demande à ta mère de te laisser lire les fragments de Mémoires par les Goncourt. ils contiennent quelques fois de jolies choses´ (Translation: " I read your letter to your uncle, it gave him great pleasure, he visited Auvergne in his youth... and found that you described the country perfectly. We are the two of us recognizing in you a little literary talent that you should cultivate, you would not do any harm to painting, on the contrary, I believe that one helps the other and I sense that in a few years from now, fashion will be for women writers. If you receive Le Figaro there, ask your mother to let you read the fragments of Memoirs by the Goncourt, they sometimes contain pretty things") Further again Morisot refers to her brother-in-law and to her own day by day, saying ` J´ai vu l´oncle Adolphe toujours bavard, se mettant franchement à ma disposition avec un fleuve de paroles assourdissant... en somme je ne suis pas abandonnée, que ta mère se rassure et qu´elle jouisse en paix de son séjour à la campagne, vous devez y avoir de bien belles journées, quelle mine a-t-elle? Elle me disait dans une de ses lettres qu´elle avait été souffrante´ (Translation: " I saw Uncle Adolphe, always talkative, frankly putting himself at my disposal with a deafening river of words... in short I am not abandoned, may your mother be reassured and may she enjoy her stay in peace in the countryside, you must have some very nice days there, how is she feeling? She told me in one of her letters that she had been unwell") VG Paule Marie Gobillard (1867-1945) Niece of Berthe Morisot. She was the elder daughter of Theodore Gobillard (1833-1883) and Berthe´s elder sister Yves Elisabeth Morisot (1838-1893) Eugene Manet (1833-1892) Younger brother of Edouard Manet. Berthe and Edouard were not only colleagues but very close friends. Edouard remained with his wife and Eugene married Berthe Morisot in 1874, in what has often been described as a marriage of convenience. Adolphe Pontillon (1832-1894) Brother-in-law to Berthe Morisot. He was the husband of Berthe´s sister Marie Caroline Morisot (1839-1921)