With Violets by Elizabeth Robards
I wasn’t familiar with the name Berthe Morisot before reading this – she was successful in showing at the Paris Salon, and she was involved in the Impressionist shows. She didn’t seem to get much attention then, but is now considered a worthy Impressionist painter in her own right. It was thought Berthe and the married Éduard Manet had an affair, and this book is an imagining of how that relationship unfolded. I like art from this time period, which is what initially drew me to the book.
I wasn’t really able to get swept up into Berthe and Éduard’s relationship. Maybe it’s because their connection was angst-filled, a bit periodic, and just somewhat doomed from the beginning with Manet being married. I did like the glimpses into the Impressionists/ anonymous cooperative society and into the connections between the artists – Degas pops up in places throughout the story, and others like Monet, Pissarro, and Sisley are mentioned a couple of times.
There’s a note from the author at the end of the book detailing use of these things to help form the backbone of her story: Manet painted Berthe several times during the years 1872–1874, more than any other of his models. One of his paintings of Berthe has her ring prominently displayed (see end of post). And after she married, he never painted her again.
I didn’t really get into the romance, which is the bulk of the book. But after reading up on Berthe Morisot a little and taking the historical gaps filled in and details into account, it grew on me a bit more.
3/5
cover blurb excerpt:
Berthe Morisot is determined to be recognized as an important painter. But as a woman, she finds herself sometimes overlooked in favor of her male counterparts – Monet, Pissarro, Degas.
And there is one great artist among them who captivates young Berthe like none other: the celebrated genius Édouard Manet. A mesmerizing, breathtaking rogue – a shameless roué, undeterred and irresistible – his life is a wildly overgrown garden of scandal. He becomes Berthe’s mentor, her teacher… her lover, despite his curiously devoted marriage to his frumpy, unappealing wife, Suzanne, and his many rumored dalliances with his own models.
But Berthe refuses to resign herself to the life of quiet submission that Society has dictated for her. Undiscouraged, she will create her own destiny… and confront life – and love – on her own terms.
Avon A, October 2008, isbn 13: 978-0061579127
available at amazon.ca
on to the art…
Paintings featured in With Violets
The Harbour at Lorient by Berthe Morisot, 1869
Berthe’s sister Edma at Lorient
A cropped thumbnail – click to see the full size painting (too big to put in the post)
The balcony by Éduard Manet, 1868
Manet asked Berthe to model for him, she’s the woman seated
Repose/Study of Berthe Morisot by Éduard Manet, 1869
The image the book cover is from
Two more paintings from the book plus links
