Berthe Morisot's 'Hunting Butterflies': Challenging Academic Norms in Paris

🎨 Berthe Morisot's 'Hunting Butterflies' depicts her world as a woman in the impressionist circle, with loose brushwork and domestic subjects.

🏰 Morisot, like Degas, faced restrictions due to her gender, resulting in paintings that portray the world she inhabited, including a young woman with children.

🖌️ Made in 1874, the same year as the first impressionist exhibition, 'Hunting Butterflies' was seen as radical, defying the traditional rules of academic painting.

🌳 The painting depicts a well-to-do Parisian family enjoying a day in the park.

🎨 The brushwork in the painting is sketchy and loose, but the central figure stands out with forthrightness.

🌸 The artist plays with the illusion of space by using consistent tonality and highlighting the paint as part of the artwork.

The artist, Berthe Morisot, experiments with paint to create depth and flatness simultaneously.

Morisot's artwork reflects her independence and subjectivity as a woman artist.

The painting captures the young woman's control of space and her refusal to conform to societal expectations.

🦋 Berthe Morisot's painting 'Hunting Butterflies' captures the essence of a summer day in Paris.