Julie Manet. An Impressionist Heritage

Berthe Morisot: Julie rêveuse (Julie daydreaming) 1894

The latest Marmottan Museum exhibition, which has just closed, was centred on Julie Manet (1878-1966) daughter of  Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot and niece of Edouard Manet. During her youth, Julie was lovingly surrounded by artists like Renoir, Degas and Monet. She may seem to have been very lucky, but at the same time she was unfortunate in losing both her parents within a 3 year period, leaving her an orphan at 17.

Berthe Morisot:  Paule Gobillard painting  1887

Julie had 2 orphaned cousins- Paule and Jeannie- who were like sisters to her. After the death of Julie's mother, the three young women lived together in her family home in Paris' bourgeois district of Passy. Paule, ten years older than the other 2, was a dedicated artist. She is shown above painted by Mme Morisot and below sketched by Renoir.

Renoir:  Portrait of Paule Gobillard, red chalk drawing (private collection)

Renoir's distinctive 'soft' style gives this sketch its charm.

 

Berthe Morisot painted her daughter over a hundred times! - for example as a little girl with her father Eugène Manet in the garden:

 

Berthe Morisot: Eugène Manet and his daughter in the garden in Bougival  1881

Berthe Morisot:  Julie Manet and her greyhound Laertes 1893

The greyhound was given to Julie, after her father's death, by her tutor Mallarmé, a dear friend of her parents, who baptised him 'Laertes' like Hamlet's companion. Mallarmé earned his living as an English teacher but is now remembered as a major symbolist poet.

The  portrait of Mallarmé by Edouard Manet, normally to be found in the Musée d'Orsay, was included in the exhibition:

Edouard Manet: Portrait de Mallarmé  1876  

In 1875, Mallarmé and Manet collaborated on the translation and illustration of Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven". They held each other in great mutual esteem. Mallarmé kept the portrait until his death in 1898, an event which Julie noted with great sadness in her diary.

Julie was a talented diary writer. She wrote from 1893 to 1899, aged 14 to 20, the year before she married Ernest Rouart. Her descriptions of the countryside or seascapes are done through the eye of a painter. Her love for her talented gracious mother is expressed frequently in her writings. 

Julie had enjoyed painting alongside her mother Berthe Morisot, in the Bois de Boulogne for example where they both captured the image of swans:

Julie Manet: Swans (oil)
Berthe Morisot: Swans (pastel)

The mother had enormous talent- a hard act to follow by Julie. Berthe's swans are an exquisite evocation of the scene on the Boulogne lake. Her colours are bold and her sketchy drawing is full of movement.

Morisot's distinctive light, spontaneous style is to be found in other works: 

Berthe Morisot: L'Eté  (Summer) 1879, Musée Fabre, Montpellier

Julie Manet echoes her mother's palette of pastel colours in her oil painting 'Sous-bois':

Julie Manet Sous-bois (In the woods) oil (private collection)

 Like Julie's mother, Renoir painted Julie several times- as a small girl holding a cat:

Renoir: Julie Manet or L'enfant au chat (Child with cat) 1887

The portrait is usually in the Musée d'Orsay.  He painted her as a young woman of 15:

Renoir: Portrait of Julie Manet 1894

Julie is looking sad and reflective, still in mourning for her father.

After her mother's death in 1895, Julie was conscientiously protected by Renoir, as he had promised.

Julie's diaries speak of Renoir's simplicity and kindness, when on holiday with his family for example in Brittany or at the Renoir home in Essoyes (in the champagne area).  Julie respected Renoir's good advice and attained the status of accomplished amateur. She herself was aware of her shortcomings, but persisted in her painting sessions and took great pains to improve. 

Julie Manet: Portraits of Jeannie at the piano and Paule listening. 1899

The influence of Renoir on her painting is evident.

Julie's portrait of her friend Jeanne Baudot has a distinctly 'Renoiresque' feeling to it:

Julie Manet:  Portrait of Jeanne Baudot  (private collection)

Julie and Jeanne copied the masters alongside each other in the Louvre. Jeanne Baudot, a doctor's daughter, was Renoir's pupil. Renoir had introduced the two girls; they became firm friends.

 Julie comments in her diaries:

"I am lucky to have been raised in such an artistic milieu. One would have to be a triple goose not to love beautiful things... I am sure that Jeanne would do a much better painting than me." 

She includes amusing details in her diary, for example of herself waltzing round Jeanne's studio with an energetic Renoir.

Several works by Berthe Morisot in this exhibition are unfamiliar to Parisian viewers, having been placed by contacts of Julie's in provincial museums. Julie did her best to promote her mother's work, at a time when Impressionist painters were by no means accepted by the public at large. 

Berthe Morisot:  Pasie sewing in the garden at Bougival  1881  (Musée des Beaux Arts, Pau)

Mme Morisot captures the moment of concentration of her employée Pasie and the colour reflections.

Berthe Morisot:  Portrait of a country girl from Nice  1889 (Lyon Musée des Beaux Arts)

Berthe Morisot's light use of oil paint gives the impression of pastel.

A remarkable portrait by Edouard Manet of Berthe Morisot herself has been lent by the Lille Beaux Arts. Berthe is shown in mourning after her father's death. 

Edouard Manet:  Berthe Morisot with a fan 1874 (Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyon)

How amazing a painter was Manet! And how attractive was Berthe! Rumours of any sentimental or physical relationship are denied by all commentators, but certainly the current passed between them! Did Berthe harbour a secret love for Edouard? There is no record of it - only what people may deduce from his portraits of her.  Her admiration of Edouard Manet as a painter was passed on to her daughter.  Edouard was married to a Dutch piano teacher with a generous easy-going nature, Suzanne, who occasionally was persuaded to authenticate Edouard's work which might subsequently be over-painted or completed by unscrupulous dealers.  

Several of Manet's powerful, very modern (at the time) master-pieces have been lent by the Musée d'Orsay to the exhibition.

Edouard Manet:  M. et Mme Auguste Manet 1860

Like the Morisot family, the Manets were from the middle classes; Manet's father Auguste was a high-ranking judge. His mother Eugénie was god-daughter of the queen of Sweden. Julie's second name was Eugénie after her grandmother.

Another masterpiece by Edouard Manet, courtesy of Orsay, is his striking portrait of "The Lady with the fans". The painting was bought by Berthe Morisot at Manet's death. She predicted it would go into the Louvre one day, if not in her lifetime, then in her daughter's. Julie Manet fulfilled her mother's wish, 46 years later!

Edouard Manet: La dame aux Eventails  (detail) 1873

It is interesting to compare Julie Manet's copy of her uncle's work:

Julie Manet: La Dame aux Eventails (after Edouard Manet) private collection

Manet's portrait of this exuberant lady was shown, along with his notorious painting "Olympia" in 1932 at the Orangerie exhibition, held to celebrate the centenary of Manet's birth. A painting by Paule, Julie's cousin, gives a partial view of that 1932 exhibition. Julie Rouart (ex Manet) and her husband Eugène helped organise the exhibition.

Paule Gobillard:  The Manet exhibition at the Orangerie in 1932 (private collection)

This small work by Paule Gobillard has never been seen in public before.

Julie's diary breaks off in 1899, about the time when her thoughts are turning to marriage. A future publication by the Marmottan Museum will complete the picture hopefully. This is the diary written by her cousin Jeannie. The two cousins had a double wedding and wore identical dresses- Julie to Ernest Rouart and Jeannie to Paul Valéry, protégé of Stéphane Mallarmé. When Valéry became a famous author, the street where they lived changed its name to rue Paul Valéry.

Ernest Rouart, Julie Manet, Paul Valéry and Jeannie Gobillard

                                                 on their wedding day 31st May, 1900

Degas had engineered a meeting between Julie Manet and his pupil Ernest Rouart in the Louvre. As much as Degas appears to have been against the idea of marriage himself, he seems to have enjoyed the role of match-maker!

Just as her mother had been happily married to a man who valued her as an artist (Manet's brother Eugène), Julie found a soul-mate in Ernest Rouart. He was a gifted artist, taught by Degas. He painted several portraits of his wife Julie:

Ernest Rouart: Julie Manet painting. 1905

Ernest Rouart: Au Mesnil, Julie Manet écrivant  (Julie Manet writing at Le Mesnil)

Ernest Rouart's style ressembles that of post Impressionist artists Bonnard or Vuillard, sometimes with a symbolist feeling.

Julie and Ernest later tried to buy back several of his father Henri's fine collection which had been sold at his death. They made important donations to French museums, with the aim of ensuring the lasting reputations of Julie's mother and uncle. 

They also formed their own collection, some works of which have been assembled for the exhibition, ranging from Delacroix to  Degas and Gauguin.

Degas: Chanteuse de café-concert ca 1879  pastel and monotype (private collection)

When Julie was an old lady she finally accomplished her desire to purchase a superb Monet waterlily painting and donate it to the Louvre. She had watched Monet painting his waterlilies at Giverny. The Marmottan has on permanent display a collection of works by Monet.

Claude Monet:  Nymphéas (Water lilies) 1914-1918

The Marmottan Museum is next to an attractive parkland area on the west of Paris,

Julie Manet Exhibition: 19 October 2021 to 20 March 2022

Musée Marmottan/Monet, 2 rue Louis-Boilly, 75016 Paris

Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm.

Metro:  La Muette

                                                 **********************************