Berthe Morisot

Berthe Morisot was a painter in her own right and a central figure in the Impressionist circle, and Manet portrayed her about a dozen times over these years. He made this small, dark portrait in 1873, when she was in her early 30s. It was originally larger, showing her reclining on a sofa. At some point the canvas was cut down to just the head and shoulders against a deep red ground. The following year she married Manet's younger brother Eugène. Morisot kept this picture for the rest of her life, and later painted it into the background of two of her own canvases.