Cleveland Museum of Art

Sewing near the Window

Berthe Morisot

Date

about 1885

Medium

watercolor and graphite on paper

Culture

France

Department

Drawings

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This watercolor depicts Euphrasie, or Pasie, the nanny for Berthe Morisot’s young daughter Julie. Pasie appears in the artist’s apartment, sewing before a window during a contemplative moment. As with many of Morisot’s works in the medium, she used this example to develop the composition of a future painting into which she added Julie and more tightly cropped the scene. Watercolor was a constant interest for Morisot, and she practiced it from around 1870 throughout the rest of her career, creating both finished and preparatory works. Edgar Degas admired Berthe Morisot’s watercolors, and seeing an example inspired him to invite her to participate in the Impressionists’ first group exhibition.

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