Painting of a Woman and Child on The Balcony

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 Introduction

The painting Woman and Child on the Balcony demonstrates a sensibility rarely seen

from a man's perspective, highlighting her female responsiveness. In the research study of Paris,

there is a mother and a child and a clear view of the river and every detail of the scene. It was

one of Morisot Berth's finest works. The study demonstrates that the painting was a motivating

factor attributed to Manet, a close friend, and painter. The painting was completed in 1872

following the Franco-Prussian War, with Paris inside the background highlighting the city's

reconstruction underneath the governance of Georges-Eugene Hausman. The woman's elegant

gown, the red flower, the child's costume, and the blue ribbon are all beautifully finished, and the

city can be seen in the background. This is an example of an abstract expressionist technique in

action.

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (1841–1895) was a French painter who, together with

Marie Bracquemond (1840– 1916) and Mary Cassatt (1844–1926), was named "Les Trois

Grandes Dames" of Impressionism in 1894 by Gustave Geffroy (1855–1926).

Marie was born in Bourges, France, on January 14, 1841, into a distinguished and affluent

family. Her father was EdméTiburce Morisot (1806–1874). He was the Cher region's

administrator. Marie JoséphineCornélie Thomas (1819–1876) was the great-niece of famed

Rococo artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806). Additionally, she had two older sisters, Yves

(1838–1893) and Edma (1839–1921), who were both deceased. As a child, her family migrated

to Paris in 1852.

Berthe and her two sisters were expected to have an education in the arts, as ladies from

bourgeois houses were supposed to do. They were instructed individually by Geoffroy Alphonse

Chocarne (1797–1857?) and Joseph Guichard (1860–1880). Their initial motivation for enrolling
in courses was for everyone to sketch a picture for their father's birthday. Guichard later invited

Berthe and Edma to the Louvre, where they learned by replicating paintings on the wall from

1858. On the other hand, Berthe and her sister Edma were not authorized to work at the museum

without chaperones and were denied formal schooling access. She met Jean-Baptiste Camille

Corot (1796–1875), a foundational Barbizon school landscape painter who excelled in figure

painting, in 1861. Berthe mastered Plein air (outside) painting under his supervision.

Additionally, she studied under Achille Oudinot (1820–1891), another Barbizon painter. In the

winter of 1863–64, she studied sculpture under Aimé Millet (1819–1891).

Berthe became acquainted with Édouard Manet (1832–1883), a long-time friend and

colleague, in 1868. In 1874, she married Eugène Manet (1833–1892), Édouard's brother. She

gave birth to Julie on November 14, 1878, and she became a frequent model for Berthe and other

Impressionist artists. Berthe fared better than Edma, who abandoned artistic efforts after

marrying a naval officer. Not only did she marry into an artistic family, but her husband, Eugène

Manet, committed himself totally to her creative career, at times forsaking his own. Berthe died

of pneumonia in Paris on March 2, 1895. While bringing her daughter Julie back to health after a

bout with pneumonia, she contracted the disease herself.

This essay will not trace Berthe's schooling from beginning to finish, nor will it look at

the precise ways in which her professors influenced her. Rather than that, it will examine how

intimate moments and Paris's landscape scenery are used in one of her most acclaimed works,

Woman and Child on the Balcony (Femme et enfant au Balcon, 1871–72), to interpret women's

self-conceptualization and her thoughts on politics and France's outlooks during the Franco-

Prussian War and Paris Community.

Literature Review
 Women's equality on social and political levels is advocated for via applying feminist

theory to art, both a conceptual and an applied theory. After decades of patriarchal rule, feminists

are, in fact, a response against it. As a result of this oppression, women have been denied

political authority over even the most fundamental of matters, such as control over their bodies.

Feminism emerged as a political movement in France after the Revolution, at a time when the

country was redefining its national identity. The city of Paris had transformed into a

cosmopolitan arena by the beginning of the twentieth century, liberating people from old dogmas

in several ways, most notably in terms of gender and socioeconomic status. Taking on patriarchal

art appropriation is a challenge for a feminist art historian. Gender theory redefines femininity

and masculinity by removing the binary opposition of gender features (stereotypes). Doing so

gives a feminine perspective and interpretation of visual arts. (Zdanovec 2016)

In contrast to other scholars who have examined the evolutionary roots of art, I am

particularly interested in women's paintings to discover if their works reflect difficulties unique

to women's evolutionary history. Women are more likely than males to paint portraits of

themselves and others, maternity and family themes, and still life and landscapes. Several of

these themes reflect women's evolved motivations, specifically the establishment and

maintenance of alliances and family relations through depictions of motherhood and family life,

as well as portraiture; or, more broadly, the display of private over public lives through the use of

still life rather than landscape, which is more prevalent. (CALLAN 2008).

An exhibition of Berthe Morisot was held in 1987. Nevertheless, a new Morisot study

showed the movement's urban Impressionist vision. Many female artists have tackled cultural

and emotional issues at ease and modesty in person, which involved overcoming gender

stereotypes in the 19th century. Morisot hated conservatism. Despite her lack of formal art
education, Morisot immediately adopted the movement's concepts. Morisot desired to

accomplish both personal and professional goals, Higonnet explains (p. 99), as is the case with

Morisot's uniqueness and development as an Impressionist artist. Manet's lesser-known Degas

paintings bolster the author's zealous defense of conscious knowledge. A more comprehensive

and non-selective bibliography would unquestionably aid field research, however. No human

perspective has been on physical attraction (p. 115), love, or marital dependence (p. 181).

According to Higonnet, her significance in the history of female artists was unanticipated.

(Lewis, Higonnet, and Edelstein 1991)

The Balcony (Higonnet) by Manet (1868–69) is a genre classic (pp. 55-60). She recreates

sights from the nineteenth century for viewers. In addition, it was described as sensuous and

languid by both Manet and Nadar. Faux demimonde debts from the 18th century. The author

said, "Amazing contemporaneity." (Lewis, Higonnet, and Edelstein 1991)

According to Morisot, Kathleen Adler researched women's private and social life and

discovered that Morisot, between 1871 and 1872, painted it as part of her famous Universal

Exhibition (1867). (National Gallery of Norway) is distinct from other urban topographical

painters due to her flexibility. Her feminine figures seem to be more content than those of Manet.

Her animated demeanor suggests that she lived fashionably in Paris. In contrast to Morisot's

bourgeoisie (private collection, Washington, D.C.), her vivid, sketchy approach depicts the life

of a working-class lady. Wet nurses helped the suburban bourgeoisie, dubbing her an

Impressionist by Paul Mantz and Gustave Geoffroy. In 1890, the painting Summer's Day
(National Gallery, London) made a feminist statement where Morisot's affluence and tranquillity

surpassed many male competitors' achievements. (Lewis, Higonnet, and Edelstein 1991)

Berthe had the talent and desire to pursue a profession as a painter. Nevertheless, Berthe's

tutor, the artist Joseph Guichard, allegedly warned her parents that permitting her to continue her

artistic education would be tough if they didn't want to ruin their relationship. However,

choosing to be a female painter would not only make her a revolutionist in her Haute bourgeoisie

surroundings, but it would also be devastating for her professional prospects. Berthe had to

contend with preconceived beliefs about women and their responsibilities throughout her life and

professional career. As a talented artist in her own right, she was the wife of Eugène Manet and

the mother of his daughter Julie and the wife of a talented artist in her own right. But many

others were inevitably influenced by her typically feminine duties, which shaped their

perceptions of her disproportionately. (Lewis, Higonnet, and Edelstein 1991)

Owing to her disadvantaged status as a woman, she could not go to such well-known

leisure areas without the accompaniment of male chaperones. Her paintings could not use

prominent locales as inspiration due to this limitation. "Staffage figures," as her male colleagues

referred to the women she was required to shoot, were deemed second-class by their male

counterparts (Chernick, 2018). Photographing maids and other domestic personnel, youngsters in

family interiors, and older women in parks were among the assignments she was given. As a

result of her gender, Berthe was never treated with the same respect as other impressionist

painters, and her paintings were often mistakenly labeled as being "teeming with feminine

characteristics" because of their grace and lightness, even though they were everything but.

Domestic duties, women, and children had been attacked for her choice of subjects and focus,
which had been seen as a strict gender representation, "but seldom recognized as modern

concerns or images of a new urban bourgeois existence."

Berthe painted what she saw and felt daily in her ordinary life, which she described in her

paintings. She painted scenes of family or domestic settings, such as needlework, mothering,

gazing out a window, or holding fans or parasols, in the late nineteenth century, and the majority

of her paintings depicted what women's lives were like or the typical actions performed by

women of certain social strata at the time. The employment of metaphors by Berthe to elevate

"womanhood" is well documented (Mathieu, 2012). Dominicique (2010) preferred intimate,

personal circumstances rather than presenting public space and society. This reflects the

customary limitations put on women of her social class and gender at the time of her birth. The

art of impressionists and paintings showing private moments in people's lives is often referred to

as "personal" by critics. Personal moments are characterized by their representation of private

life as the primary subject, with the emphasis placed on "the spectator's observation of a private

scene, of a glimpse into someone else's existence, of their conclusion at this intimate time"

(Mathieu, 2018). According to Mathematics (2018), Berthe's work was critical in establishing

intimacy as an artistic approach, and as a result, her work provided a new way of seeing

impressionist painting. In Berthe's delicate paintings, three essential intimacies were

demonstrated: the absorbed self, feminine friendship, and the material history of painting, among

other things. Additionally, according to Mathieu (2018), women were seen as more appropriate

subjects and inspirations for art than they were as creators, which he considers to be true.

If "women were not involved," according to Eicher (2003), "socialism [would] not prosper" in

the context of the 1871 Paris Commune, in which he was writing, In contrast to Mathieu, this is

the case. As a result of the outbreak of the Paris Commune in 1871, women took the opportunity
for Revolution to bring about economic, social, and political reform. Women contributed

significantly to the war effort in various ways, including forming political clubs around the city,

writing articles and editing newspapers, working as nurses and cooks, caring for the wounded,

and even fighting on the battlefield and at the barricades. It was economic exploitation and

marginalization of the work, as well as their subordinate status in the home, that fueled their

revolutionary aspirations. As both unpaid domestic workers of motherhood and active

participants in the Paris Commune, women's various dimensions reveal that Berthe's double

identities as a wife and mother, in addition to her outstanding painting abilities, are not

necessarily "mutually contradictory" (Chernick, 2018).

Henriette Berthe lived in an intertwined world that she had created for herself, and she

did not conform to "neither the conventions of amateur female artists nor the traditions of

professional male artists." According to McFadden (2019), formalized jargon is defined as Given

that Berthe was a "visual poet of femininity," as Schjeldahl (2018) describes her work, her

painting identity not only displayed women of her day and their social position and

circumstances, but it also dictated how far women potential might extend and expand.

Analysis of the Painting

Art is a sensory and imaginative feast. From the design of the structure in which it is

shown, such as Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum in New York City, to contemporary

installation works that include the audience as active participants, art can have a strong and

lasting effect on our lives. While Michelangelo's David may inspire us to scrutinize minute

details, shards of 10,000year-old Jomon pottery may lead us to rethink our concepts of time and
permanence. As Aristotle noted, sight is our main sense; so, art with a strong visual component is

likely to have a profound, enduring influence on our perceptions and actions. (CALLAN 2008)

Nonetheless, in Berthe's painting, a delicate feature of Woman and Child on the Balcony

is shown that is not often seen from a masculine perspective, demonstrating the artist's feminine

sensibility. There is a lady and a kid in the Paris survey and a stunning view of the river, and

every feature has been perfectly replicated at the survey's site. Some of Morisot Berth's most

successful work has been shown throughout her career. Manet was a personal friend and fellow

painter at the time of the study, and his art acted as a motivation, as seen by the research results.

The artwork, which depicts the reconstruction of Paris under the direction of Georges-Eugene

Hausman, was made in 1872 during the Franco-Prussian war. In 1872, the picture was shown in

Paris's Louvre.

Along with the woman's fantastic attire, the red flower, the child's dress, and the blue

ribbon are all well completed, and the city is visible in the background. This is an example of

Impressionism in action. (CALLAN 2008).

The employment of watercolor paint displays an effective use of the rule of thirds, directing the

viewer's attention to the backdrop and the image's growth. Lady in mourning, seated on the

balcony railing and wholly clothed in black from head to toe, might also be regarded as

mourning. This is a time of grief, as indicated by the umbrella placed in the center of gathering

people, including the lady and kid. The umbrella may conjure up images of sorrow and

melancholy. While it may not be pouring outside, they may be crying within due to Berthe's

father's death and, more crucially, France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the dissolution

of the Commune of Paris. That is why Les Invalides, also known as the "House of the Disabled,"
was painted as the background, serving as a testament to the devastation suffered by the French

people. (CALLAN 2008)

Nonetheless, the woman may have used an umbrella as both a shield and weapon to

protect and fight for themselves when in a dangerous situation. The brush is a weapon that is

comparable to Berthe's weapon. Morisot was sad at the time of the painting, having lost her

father the same year the picture was taken, signaling the start of her mature period. She

eventually consented to give oil painting a try and realized that she has an extraordinary skill,

driving her to the top of the field and eventually becoming the most successful painter of all

time. (CALLAN 2008)

Along with the church, the piece of art depicts arms concealed under translucent sleeves

of a woman's garment, indicating her independence and free spirit. Additionally, the artwork

exudes a feeling of youth. She may have painted it at the moment in her life when she was secure

and self-assured, allowing her career to take a favorable turn and her success in oil painting to

flourish.

The woman and the child are positioned intimately in a relatively private setting - her

apartment's Balcony — demonstrating Berthe's mastery of personal moments. Female

companionship is presented in this picture as one of the three primary intimacies (Mathieu,

2018). The woman's bending action conveys a feeling of concern for and equality with the minor

child. They seem to be more than family members; they appear pals. (CALLAN 2008)
 By arranging the two figures in this way, it has been argued that the woman seeks to

protect and care for the tiny girl, who can only see the view through bars, which may be

interpreted as social and cultural boundaries. The woman said that the young child reminded her

of herself. At the time, women in France were prohibited and limited from some rights, such as

the right to formal education. Their ideological position was also eroded, and they were relegated

to the category of purely feminine duties such as mothers and daughters. On the other hand,

women were able to play a significant role in both the founding and administration of the Paris

Commune, even though women were not permitted to vote in Commune elections and were not

elected to the Commune's executive committee. The red and yellow flowers in the upper right

corner symbolize hope and multiplication. The woman on the Balcony wishes that the tiny child

could see things as clearly as she does. She wants to be allowed to do anything she pleases as she

grows older, rather than being limited to being a mother or a daughter shackled by home chores.

She could fight for herself, her female colleagues, and France in a soldierly way.

Following a setback or loss, the lady in the photograph demonstrates how strong women

can be and how they must reconstruct their life. With the least possible aid from other women,

considerable development will occur in a city in severe need of rebuilding and rehabilitation.

Fortunately for the artist, the city of Paris was undergoing redevelopment at the time of the

painting, allowing him to focus on producing a background painting of the metropolitan region.

Even though the surrounding environment is faintly seen in the artwork, the church is evident.

Due to the proof that she is mourning, the church acts as a sign of faith, ensuring her success in

her objectives. Indeed, she is so confident that better days are ahead that she leans against the

railroad tracks and gazes out over the Paris streets.

She longed for a glimmer of optimism that would inspire her to attempt oil painting and let her

family and friends see her victory.

For most of the nineteenth century, a woman's primary duty was a wife. She looks to be

seeking solace and participating in the rebuilding of Paris in the artwork. Her determination to

work despite her marital status is a source of inner beauty. She is driven to succeed in her

painting profession. She looks to be standing next to her daughter, suggesting that she is

fulfilling her wifely obligations while also staring out at the streets of Paris, showing that she is

pursuing her professional objectives. By leaning against the grills, she communicates that the

path to professional achievement will not be easy, but this would not be an excuse to abandon

her aspirations.

Conclusion

Impressionist paintings threw a wrench in the divide between masculine and feminine

identity. The scientific study of optics and color theory inspired the Impressionist artists' Plein-

air technique. Science was seen as a masculine subject since it required logic and reason.

However, this increased focus on color over linework was an emotional phenomenon. In this

sense, Impressionism was seen as an unacademic and feminine painting style. Berthe Morisot

was an Impressionist painter who was a founding member of the movement. She depicted three

main topics in her paintings: ladies in fake landscapes, women with mirrors in indoor spaces, and

a mother and her daughter. In the late nineteenth century, she emphasized femininity via her

paintings' female figures. They often wore attire indicative of their bourgeois financial status,

and they were photographed in spaces commonly designated for women in society. Morisot often

utilized the locations in which he painted his female models as a metaphor for feminine sexuality

in his work. Throughout history, the landscape has been used as a metaphor for the female
figure. Both the land and female reproductive organs had the biological imperative to reproduce.

As a result, women have ascribed an essentialist gender role. Women were relegated to the

private arena of existence since they were the only gender capable of generating and nursing a

child (a home). It was customary for painters to depict females in their chambers, often in front

of boudoirs with mirrors. The masculine gaze was enhanced by the reflection of a female in a

mirror, emphasizing its effect even more. Femininity has always been associated with an

idealized form of beauty. Women may alter their natural appearance via cosmetics to appease the

broader public, especially males. Women were supposed to act in a specific manner, and it was

the mother's responsibility to instill this behavior in her daughter. According to custom, women

were expected to be chaste, modest, and subordinate.

On the other side, female sexuality served as the foundation for their gender roles. Due to the

physical capabilities of a woman's body, the private domain (her home) was designated as

feminine.

Females were traditionally expected to be wives and mothers, among other roles.

Consequently, it was assumed they would engage in sexual activity to reproduce. Female

instruments like mirrors and cosmetic applications were also used to captivate the male gaze

rather than meet beauty standards. A woman desired marriage. As a consequence, she was

required to court her prospective suitors.

On the other hand, a portrayal of a lady with her daughter transmitted to the public the

idea that she was not a pure woman. Morisot reshaped and broadened women's positions in art

by sexualizing the feminine body from a female perspective. When both the masculine and

feminine were personified, gender expectations were unclear.

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