Born into a prosperous family, Berthe Morisot was encouraged at an early age to become an amateur artist. Along with her sister Edma, she began her studies with Geoffroy-Alphonse Chocarne (act. 1838-1857), a painter trained in the neoclassical tradition. In 1858 the sisters entered the studio of Joseph-Benoît Guichard (1806-1880), a student of Ingres (q.v.) and Delacroix (q.v.). Through Guichard they met Corot (q.v.) in 1861, under whose encouragement they began to paint out of doors near Pontoise as well as in Normandy and Brittany. Berthe Morisot exhibited at the Salon from 1864 until 1873. Fantin-Latour (q.v.) introduced her to Manet (q.v.) around 1867. They developed a close friendship, and Morisot modeled for him many times (see Manet, Berthe Morisot, no. 141). In 1874 she married his brother, Eugène, and that same year began participating in the impressionist exhibitions, never to show at the Salon again. Four years after their marriage, the couple's only child, Julie, was born on 14 November 1878 and would become a main source of artistic inspiration. Morisot matured as a central member of the group of impressionists. Her home became a meeting place for painters and writers alike, including Renoir (q.v.), Degas (q.v.), Mary Cassatt (1845-1926), and Stéphane Mallarmé. She participated in the Drouot sale of 1875, where the artists were ridiculed extensively. Her paintings, however, fetched slightly higher prices than those of Renoir, Monet (q.v.), and Sisley (q.v.). Morisot made pastels and watercolors as well as oil paintings, and during the final years of her life she experimented with lithography and drypoint etching.
