Arcadópolis
Girl in a Boat with Geese
Berthe Morisot, c. 1889
What you see
A grassy bank fills the lower half, where white geese wander: three together on the right and one alone in front, its neck bent down. Higher up, on the lake, a pale boat carries two small figures, one in yellow at the oars. Behind them another figure in light blue can be made out. Leafy trees close off the horizon, and a small pine grows on the left.
Everything is painted in short strokes of green, blue and white that make the water and leaves shimmer. The figures in the boat are just a few touches of color. Look for the red flowers on the right, beside the geese, and for the yellow oar cutting diagonally through the water.
About Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot was a French painter and one of the founders of the Impressionist group: she took part in seven of its eight exhibitions, between 1874 and 1886. With quick, light brushstrokes she painted intimate scenes from the lives of the women around her, such as her mother, her sister Edma and her daughter Julie. She was married to Eugène Manet, brother of the painter Édouard Manet, and in 1896, a year after her death, the Durand-Ruel gallery held a large exhibition of her work in Paris.
More by Berthe Morisot
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