Lot Essay
In the summer of 1881 Morisot and her family rented a house in Bougival, a picturesque village on the Seine.
The beutiful garden around the house, as well as the village of Bougival, soon provided Morisot with new subject matter for her paintings. Even when painting portraits, Morisot would frequently portray her sitters against a garden landscape as she developed her interest in the new colour schemes that nature provided.
"Whereas Morisot's treatment of color in the 1870s was predominantly descriptive and decorative, these Bougival pictures are characterized both by the calculated interplay of opposing complementary tones that resonate and thus heighten the illusion of space and by the contrasting interplay of closely related tones with just the opposite effect." (C. F. Stuckey & W. P. Scott, Berthe Morisot impressionist, London, p. 94).
This 'calculated interplay of opposing complementary tones' is particularly evident in Poupée dans le Veranda: Morisot uses colour and brushwork to create a perfect balance between the interior and the garden beyond.
The beutiful garden around the house, as well as the village of Bougival, soon provided Morisot with new subject matter for her paintings. Even when painting portraits, Morisot would frequently portray her sitters against a garden landscape as she developed her interest in the new colour schemes that nature provided.
"Whereas Morisot's treatment of color in the 1870s was predominantly descriptive and decorative, these Bougival pictures are characterized both by the calculated interplay of opposing complementary tones that resonate and thus heighten the illusion of space and by the contrasting interplay of closely related tones with just the opposite effect." (C. F. Stuckey & W. P. Scott, Berthe Morisot impressionist, London, p. 94).
This 'calculated interplay of opposing complementary tones' is particularly evident in Poupée dans le Veranda: Morisot uses colour and brushwork to create a perfect balance between the interior and the garden beyond.