Picturesque connections: »Manet & Morisot«

Between 1868 and 1883, a deep artistic friendship moved Paris: Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). Their connection was also marked by competition, but they appreciated each other and collected each other's work. It began when Morisot modeled for Manet. She eventually focused on her own artistic career and became a central figure of Impressionism: between 1874 and 1886, she participated in seven of the eight Impressionist exhibitions in Paris. She eventually married Manet's brother Eugène, who was also a painter and actively supported his wife's career, which was unusual for the time. The exhibition focuses primarily on Morisot's development: it begins with the paintings Manet made of her and ends with a self-portrait she painted at around the age of 45, highlighting her self-perception as an artist. Recent research shows that in his later years, Manet drew inspiration from Morisot's painting techniques, compositional ideas, and choice of motifs. Thirty-six paintings and six drawings present this extraordinary artistic friendship for the first time in a dedicated exhibition: Manet & Morisot at the Cleveland Museum of Art runs until July 5.

During the time of Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot, photography was also developing and gaining increasing social and cultural influence. This was particularly true in Paris, the art capital of the 19th-century world. Complementing the above art exhibition, the Cleveland Museum of Art is showing France in the Time of Manet and Morisot from May 10 to August 23: a photography exhibition that offers further insights into the society in which the two artists lived and the rapid development of a modernizing Paris. The show primarily features works from the museum's extensive collection of 19th-century photography. The photographs are by Édouard-Denis Baldus, Étienne Carjat, André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, and Charles Marville, among others.

Manet & Morisot was previously on display at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.