Woman at Her Toilette

1875–80

Rendered with feathery brushstrokes in shades of lavender, pink, blue, white, and gray, this Impressionist painting captures a subject often explored by male artists of the day but seldom broached by the period's few women artists. Morisot presents a decidely female perspective, intimate yet not eroticized. She signed her name along the bottom of the mirror, as if to suggest that the image in her painting is as ephemeral as a silvery reflection.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Berthe Morisot (French, 1841–1895)

Date

1875–80

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

60.3 × 80.4 cm (23 3/4 × 31 5/8 in.); Framed: 85.8 × 105.5 × 10.5 cm (33 3/4 × 41 1/2 × 4 1/8 in.)

Origin

France

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Stickney Fund