We took the Girls to visit the Dallas Art Museum and see the “Berthe Morisot” exhibit. Morisot is not well known in the world of Impressionist painters and the Dallas exhibition is the first in the United States since 1987.

I loved watching how they reacted to each painting. Berthe Morisot’s Impressionist colleagues included Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. She married Eugene Manet, the brother of artist Edouard Manet. Eugene had considered an artistic career, but became his wife’s greatest champion instead.

Morisot had to adapt to the social rules of the times. She wanted to explore Paris on her own and paint. This was not possible as a woman of her social class had to be escorted by a man. She focused inward by painting her immediate family.

“Woman at Her Toilette” 1875-1880. She was a master at evoking light and atmosphere. Many critics disapproved of her “sketchlike” aesthetic but admired her work. A critic in 1881 said, “(Morisot) has found a way to fix the glimmers, the gleams produced by colors, the shivers that flow over objects and the air that envelops them…No one represents Impressionism with a more refined talent, with more authority than Madame Morisot.”

The paintings of her daughter were a favorite of the Girls. Because Morisot mainly painted pictures of her family, it was easy to understand the story of her life.

“I don’t think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal, yet that’s all I would ask for, because I know I am of equal worth.” Berthe Morisot 1890

“Over the course of the 20th century, Morisot’s essential role within Impressionism was gradually minimized or omitted entirely within the histories of the 19th-century French art. Bias against the achievements of women artists played a role in this decreased recognition, but it was not the only factor. The scarcity of Morisot’s works in public collections and the general lack of visibility are among the many contributing causes.”

The Dallas Art Museum contains wonderful Asian and Southeast Asian collections. Marla points out where we are taking the Girls’ cousins on a future trip.

They loved the story depicted in the Japanese screen.

The Ladies show their versions of Buddhist mudras.

Wondrous discoveries!

Cubism was a little harder to explain but we gave it a go.

The girls get a little silly next to the Henry Moore.

A very helpful museum guide explains about a Picasso signature.

What a truly eye-opening day at the Museum!

The Girls display their own creative side!

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.