An Art History C.S.I.: Morisot and Manet. Love? But No Letters! Plus Veuve Clicquot.

Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets by Edouard Manet, 1872. Hover over image to magnify.

The woman who looks out at us with those intense dark eyes is Berthe Morisot, one of the few female impressionists, and a painter of such distinction that she is actually remembered as such. The rich skin tones of her face stand out from a surround of black clothing. The lips are bow-shaped and held as though she is appropriately suppressing a smile. The eyes are so very intense, warm, and focused that one wonders what effect they had on the artist who was painting the portrait. For that artist must certainly have been much in the mind of this, his subject, as her large eyes gazed warmly in his direction. A sweet, sad tenderness is at the heart of this painting, represented subtly by the bouquet of violets almost hidden in the center of Morisot’s black cape.

Edouard Manet painted 17 portraits of Berthe Morisot, making her his favorite muse. Other models, Victorine Meurent, who modeled nude for Olympia but who also became a painter, and Eva Gonzalès, who was Manet’s one student and whose praises he sang to Morisot, were in paintings showing action or representing different characters. The portrait of Gonzalès, for example, shows her at the easel, palette and brush in hand, as she dashes off a painting. Meurent modeled not as herself, but as characters in some of Manet’s most controversial paintings (Olympia and Luncheon on the Grass). The difference is that the paintings of Morisot were only about Morisot.

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) came from a bourgeois family where the young women of the family were expected to be educated in the arts. In fact, of the four children, it was she and her sister Edma who trained with Camille Corot, the famous French landscape artist. While Edma’s career ended with her marriage and motherhood, Berthe’s career continued. Morisot’s beauty was often commented upon. She was known to have such gracious

manners that she made others feel self-conscious. As she was from a well-off family, being restrained and respectable was the hallmark of a young woman of her position, as being a gentleman was for Edouard Manet.

This is Edouard Manet (1832-1883) as he was in 1867 (portrait by Fantin-LaTour). He was very much the stylish bourgeois man about town, conservative in many ways but outlandish for his time in terms of his paintings. This last trait caused him to be the source of unwanted controversy but also to be the artist most respected by the likes of the young Impressionists like Monet. Thus Manet became the leader of the avant-garde painters of his day. He was like this in 1868 when he met Morisot as she sketched in the Louvre.

Ah, two artists meeting in the Louvre in the city of love and romance, Paris, would seem to fulfill all the necessary qualities for a Hollywood film. Au contraire! Manet was married, but under rather odd circumstances, involving most probably the cover-up of an illegitimate child – not his own. The Manet family had hired a Dutch-born music teacher, Suzanne Leenhoff, who after a while in the employ of the Manet family produced a “little brother” named Leon. While some art historians claim this was a son of Edouard Manet, most have decided that it was his father’s child and thus Edourd’s half-brother. Long-story short, Manet married Suzanne to hush the scandal. Using the invented last name of Koelia, Leon Leenhoff Koelia over the years seems to have been taken as their son, though the couple never produced any other children.

Meanwhile, another curiosity in this relationship between Manet and Morisot is that their families moved in the same social circles which corresponded with one another through letters, invitations, and greetings of various kinds, but there are no letters between Morisot and Manet, not even invitations to come model in his studio, despite that she sat for 17 portraits. Is this lack of evidence, actually evidence of something much deeper?

Morisot did write to her sister, Edma, who painted this portrait of Berthe in 1865, about her frustrations and sadness over the barriers between her and Manet. Morisot’s mother, whether to help shake her out of it or pour vinegar in the wound, pointed out to her daughter that Manet had taken up with Eva Gonzalès who was so much more “accomplished” than Berthe. (Thanks, Mom.) Berthe did indicate a jealous satisfaction to her sister when Manet expressed his frustrations working with the strong-willed Gonzalès. So some of her feelings for Manet were known.

Berthe Morisot with a Fan by Edouard Manet, 1872. Hover over image to magnify.

In this piece by Manet, Morisot poses coyly holding a fan over her face, once again dressed in black. By the way, Manet was much in love with Spanish painting where figures were customarily dressed in traditional Spanish black. Morisot increases the mystery by wearing pink slippers. Having one leg crossed over the other allows for one of these dainty pink items to project out. Like a geisha enfolded in layers of kimono, offering a view of a little patch of skin at the nape of the neck as an enticement, Morisot dangles before the painter this tiny shoe with an ornamental flower on its toe.

Berthe Morisot, Le Repos by Edouard Manet, 1873. Hover over image to magnify.

Here Morisot rests in a languid pose, gazing off into the distance, one beautiful long-fingered hand resting on a red-violet cushioned sofa. Her gaze seems distant and distracted, though the painting above her of a stormy sea may hold some indication of what may have been going on between them. Near her right arm is what looks like a clump of violets, the flower that wanders like a musical refrain through these portraits. The portraits came to an end in 1874 when Morisot married Edouard Manet’s brother, Eugène. Her mother objected, as Eugène seemed not to have a profession. However, the marriage worked well, with Eugène promoting his wife’s art. The couple had a daughter, Julie, which was the light of her mother’s life.

However, back to the relationship, such as it was, or whatever it was, and the lack of letters. There is some dispute over how much access Berthe and Edouard had to one another. Yes, there were 17 portraits and the sittings that went with making them. As Jeffrey Myers purports in “Morisot & Manet”(newcriterion.com), with all the time they spent together in his studio, even with societal prohibitions, something must have boiled over. However, other historians point out that Mme. Morisot, Berthe’s mother, was always with her when she went to visit Manet. I tend to believe the latter as Manet suffered from syphillis, though Morisot never manifested that, hence perhaps no intimate contact. On the other hand, some indicate that Manet and Morisot mutually burned their love letters before her marriage to Eugène. As dramatic and oscar-winning as that might have been, I suggest that given the social constraints of the time, as well as Manet’s marriage and Morisot’s mother, there may never have been such letters. Communications could have easily happened in person at the many weekly gatherings that included both families.

Finally there is Morisot’s beautiful daughter, Julie, whose parents were both dead by the time she reached her late teens. The curmudgeonly family friend, Edgar Degas, noting this situation, took it upon himself to find for Julie and a close cousin of hers a handsome pair of young

men from good families, both with promising careers as military officers. He had them introduced. Et voilà! Nature took its course, and there wound up being a double-marriage ceremony. Julie went on to have a happy marriage and ultimately a son. It was the son, Berthe’s grandson, who years after her death, edited the letters of his grandmother. Perhaps it was his hand that destroyed, as inappropriate to his grandmother’s memory, any record of a passion between Manet and Morisot. And so ends what is known and what is assumed about this relationship that seemed so fraught with passion, whether equally felt or not, and filled with disappointment on many fronts. Love, but no letters, and some wonderful paintings. But wait, there is one last thing.

This painting is a gift from Manet to Berthe Morisot. Violets, 1872. Hover over image to magnify.

There is a letter here, though perhaps it is only a symbol of what could never be.

Paintings used in this article are in Public Domain.

Articles used for this post are as follows:

“Berthe Morisot” theartstory.org

Berthe Morisot, Woman Impressionist, a book of essays. Published by Rizzoli/Electra, 2019.

“Escaping Social Distancing: Morisot and Manet – An Affair to Remember”by Joan Hart artseverydayliving.com

“Manet and Morisot: A Tale of Love and Sadness in Portraits” ArtVentures art-ventartventures.blogspot.com

“Morisot & Manet” by Jeffrey Meyers newcriterion.com

For more on Marjorie Vernelle, see the author page at amazon.com/author/marjorievernelle or go to the Art Blog at vernellestudio.com

Veuve Clicquot: The Widow and Her Champagne.

Portrait of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot

Since this is Women’s History Month, one must take a look at the life of and the product/company created by Madame Clicquot, known from her 27th birthday as The Widow Clicquot (Veuve Clicquot). Born in the late 1700s in the Champagne region of France, the times were indeed perilous. Born into an affluent family of textile merchants, she married the boy at the estate next door, François Clicquot, son of another wealthy textile merchant, but one who had taken to dabbling with making wine, including one named for the region, Champagne.

As was mentioned the times were perilous since the French Revolution (1789) and the following Reign of Terror meant that many of the wealthy lost everything, including their heads. The Ponsardin and Clicquot families managed to be shrewd enough politically and at enough of a distance from the capital, Paris, to escape that fate. However, in 1798, Mme. Clicquot’s enthusiastic young husband, who eschewed the textile business for winemaking, died suddenly, leaving his 27-year-old widow behind. What to do? Barbe-Nicole’s family had a tradition of wine making which had been instrumental in the young couple’s joint interest in making and selling wines. Well, with land and good crops, you’ve got a business, and that is just what the Widow focused on, the building of a wine business based upon the making of a stellar champagne, which bore the name used to reference her, Veuve Clicquot.

However, it wasn’t easy. One can tell by the portrait above that the Widow Clicquot was a shrewd and tough businsess woman who could make hard but also creative decisions. With her husband’s death, her father-in-law wanted to close the fledgeling and failing wine business; however, Barbe-Nicole presented him with another proposal, which he accepted as long as she would undergo winemaking training. She did and stuck with the idea of making champagne. In 1811 during Napoleon’s campaign in Russia, she made a Hail Mary decision to supply her champagne to the Russians who loved the drink. She got it through to that Russian clientele by letting the French soldiers who were blockading traffic into Russia but who also loved champagne have some.

Those soldiers had no corkscrews, so they used their sabers to knock off the caps of the bottles, creating that dramatic tradition that is often seen in film, known as sabrage. For instruction in this and a very amusing video, look at Champage Saber Time youtube.com. I suggest that you do this when out on field maneuvers or while camping, but don’t try it at home unless you want a broken window.

The Widow had great success with both Napoleon’s soldiers and the Russians. The Czar only drank Veuve Clicquot and that magical vintage is known as the Legendary Vintage of 1811. The Widow’s inventiveness did not stop there. In 1818, she reimagined rosé champagne by combining Chardonnay with Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes. She also invented the process of riddling or the turning of the bottles of champagne on racks where the bottles were placed at 45 degree angles. This way during the second fermentation, the dead yeast could easily be loosed up from the botton and taken off the top of the bottle rather than pouring the champagne from one bottle to another. Those riddling racks also proved to be a great way to ship the champagne, which expanded her business to the Scandinavian countries and to America.

The cellars at Veuve Clicquot in France.

The Widow Clicquot is credited with making champagne available to people far beyond Europe and in the 20th century the Clicquot empire expanded to its present-day income of 1.3 billion dollars in sales per year. It is now a valuable and highly valued part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesey (LVMH) empire of luxury goods. For more of Mme Clicquot’s exploits see Natasha Geiling’s article “The Woman Who Created the Champagne Industry” smithsonianmag.com.

To get the most out of this marvelous champagne, it must be served in the right way and in the right glass. Flutes that close in at the top or as seen here large red wine glasses that again are narrow at the top work well to keep in those valuable bubbles. The long stems are for holding the glass, rather than putting one’s fingers around the bowl which serves to warm the wine which is best served chilled. The best temperature for serving it is between 8-10°C (47-50°F). However, do not store the bottles in the refrigerator as too much refrigeration spoils the taste, so keep in in wine cellar conditions.

As for food pairings, Veuve Clicquot goes extremely well with oysters, white fish, white meat, and with Gouda cheese. As for specific food combinations, no better advice is offered than that at veuveclicquot.com. It boils down to Pairing or Balance. In Pairing, the goal is to match like with like. They give the example of Vintage Rose 2000 with a lamb tajine (spicy with spicy). For Balance, it is a matter of contrasts that balance out one another. Their exmple is acidic/sweet or acidic/fatty, as in Vintage Reserve 1996 and creamy chicken. Their website also offers recipes.

However, you choose to enjoy this most celebrated of champagnes, just remember that it was a woman’s ingenuity that created it and made it thrive. Vive Veuve Clicquot!

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and      CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2022

COMING SOON: Masters of the Flowers and Napa Valley Vineyards in Spring.

Le basin aux nymphéas by Claude Monet

Spring and flowers go together, and who doesn’t think of Claude Monet when beautiful flower paintings come to mind? But wait, there is also Edourd Manet, Mary Cassatt, Vincent Van Gogh, and even Gustave Courbet! It is time to take a look at the art of flowers and the masters who painted them. And while we are at it, we can take a trip to the Napa Valley for an off-season treat of wine activities.

Observing the Observed in La Loge, and Women Winemakers.

La loge or In the Loge by Mary Cassatt, 1878. en.wikipedia.org. Hover over image to magnify.

The Paris of the late 19th century was a city full of show. Baron Haussmann’s grand boulevards were great for strolling and viewing fine new buildings and fine new people. This strolling and viewing can be seen in the art, as in Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street, Rainy Day (1877), or at the horseraces at Longchamp, as in Edgar Degas’ The Parade (1868), or a night’s entertainment, as in Edouard Manet’s Bar at the Folies Bergère (1882). Perhaps the grandest place for en masse people-watching was the Palais Garnier Opera House, that fabulous building that seats nearly 2,000 people all in one glorious space. As opposed to the streets of Paris, the racetrack, or the folies, the opera house offered a female the perfect setting to enjoy watching people, often with the aid of opera glasses which could magnify the figures for close-up viewing. Mary Cassatt, an American impressionist painter living in Paris took full advantage of this to offer a number of observed figures, whose inner thoughts we might only guess, in a series of paintings referring to the loges or the box seats.

The interior of the Palais Garnier Opera House showing orchestra seating and the loges or boxes. Photo credit to Wikimedia commons.wikimedia.org. Hover over image to magnify.

The loges in the Palais provided a great venue for viewing. As women were allowed to come to the opera (only with a male companion, of course, in keeping with 19th century mores), the opportunity to see and be seen yielded exciting possibilities to show themselves in evening splendor, see who was with whom, and make connections of their own. Juicy! The woman in black in Cassatt’s painting may have been her sister, Lydia. Regardless, what we see is a woman with her opera glasses trained on someone (or ones) across the cavernous space of the palais. The lights are on in the house, which means nothing is happening on the stage. The woman’s opera glasses are trained not down toward the stage but across to the other side of the theater, where she views intently something or someone of interest.

Meanwhile to her right and just in the bend of the curving gallery of chairs is a man who is viewing this same lady, all dressed in her very demure black. Unlike her binocular opera glasses, his has a single lens, probably expandable like a spyglass, both the style and shape of which are symbolic of a certain interest he may have in what he has spied. However, he is not the only voyeur, because Cassatt has arranged these figures so that the viewer of the painting is also involved. The viewer can look at this woman who does not see that she is being spied upon and silently chuckle at how unaware she is of being admired. We can, of course, expand this by thinking about who in the museum is watching the person who is watching the characters in this painting.

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) grew up near Pittsburgh, studied painting in Philadelphia before going to tour Europe. In 1873 she settled in Paris and became part of the group calling themselves Impressonists. She is one of only three women and the only American to join the French Impressionists. “Cassatt’s painting explores the very act of looking, breaking down the traditional boundaries between the observer and the observed, the audience and the performer.” collections.mfa.org

In the Corner of the Box by Mary Cassatt, 1879. wikiart.org

Here again we have two young women at the opera. The lighting might suggest that the young woman with the binoculars is actually looking at the stage, as the theater behind her is dark. She and the female with her have the front of their bodies lit by a bright light, coming from the direction that the young woman is viewing, once again most probably the stage. Since the viewer of the painting is the secret observer here, that viewer would notice the attire of the young women, the white gloves, the delicate fan, and the off-shoulder dresses decorated with flowers. They are themselves two blossoms being presented in the opera’s springtime.

Dans la loge by Mary Cassatt, 1879. Hover over image to magnify.

In this scene, the house lights are up, and the young woman looks not in the direction of the stage, which would be to her left, but straight across the theater to the loges opposite her. She has no binoculars. Cassastt captures the idea of a full house of attendees in a quick impressionistic style of splotches of color. The rich operatic red of the interior is balanced with the soft yellow-green of spring, which is the dominant color that the young woman wears. With flowers in her hair, and her skin rosed up by the dramatic theater lighting, this young woman leans forward to both see the spectacle of opera goers and show her own lovely countenance. And we, the viewers, get to view her and imagine who might be taking a look at her from some distant balcony.

Woman with a Peal Necklace by Mary Cassatt, 1879. artsandculture.google.com. Hover over image to magnify.

Unlike the more shy young woman who sits in the shadows of an upper loge, leaning forward to be seen, here we have a mature lady who takes center stage in the orchestra-level seating. The model for this and several of Cassatt’s paintings was her sister, Lydia. Cassatt takes full advantage of the dramatic theater lighting to show off this confident beauty who wears a single strand pearl choaker. Cassatt shows the woman’s audience by giving us the scene of the balcony seats just behind and to the right of this woman. They appear as splotches of color above the gold that trims their box seats, while Lydia is all pinks and pale violets, a living Valentine. Cassatt’s observations of the effects of light allow her to make Lydia glow, with bright light on one side that falls into dappled shadows in blues and violets over her face and arms. In contrast, her coppery hair glows in the bright light as if a personal beacon hailing all with a “look at me” signal. We, who are doing our own silent viewing, wonder who else in that theater was captivated by this smiling beauty with a pearl necklace.

Mary Cassatt was as innovative as any of the other impressionists and her work a standout in terms of its subject matter. Her work in her series of loge paintings particulary captures the way that the opera was a cultured way for women to be present and seen in Parisian society. It opened opportunities for them to make connections of many kinds, such as engagements that led to marriage or encounters that led to “patrons” for those women known as Les grandes horizontales. The flowers in the hair and dresses of the women often signaled a variety of things. Most famously, Marie Duplessis, the original Lady of the Camelias, wore red flowers at a certain time of the month to let her patrons know that she was indisposed for a few days.

While both Renoir and Degas did paintings of the Palais Garnier’s loges, Cassatt’s series invoke more mystery, as they make the viewer wonder what is going on in the minds of the people who are so engaged in looking at one another. Her paintings of the loges at the opera allow women to shine but from the point of view of another woman, one who was observing the various scenes that took place in that very public place. Cassatt, while famous for her paintings of women and children, was also a close friend of Edgar Degas and sometimes about his only friend, as Degas had a rather difficult personality. There is some speculation that he had a hand in doing some background work in a few of her paintings, like Little Girl in Blue Armchair. However, that would be a good subject for another blog post.

Note: For those anywhere near Denver, Colorado, before March 13th, the Denver Art Museum is hosting a traveling show of some 100 paintings in an exhibition called Whistler to Cassatt, American Painters in France. If you miss Denver, from April 16 to July 31, 2022, the same show will be at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, VA.

Paintings used in this post are in Public Domain.

Articles used to research this post are as follows:

“France’s Forgotten Impressionist” by Lara Marlowe irishtimes.com

“In the Loge: Mary Cassatt knew that staring was rude” by Jennifer Tucker, sartle.com

Paris: Capital of the 19th Century by Dana Goldstein, Brown University. library.brown.edu

For more on Marjorie Vernelle, see the author page at amazon.com/author/marjorievernelle or go to the Art Blog at vernellestudio.com

Women in Wine: The Female Vintners

The “She Can” collection of wines in a can from the McBride Sisters Wines mcbridesisters.com

Gone are the days when the image of women winemakers was one of barefoot peasant women stomping around in vats of grapes. No. It’s a new day, and time to take a look at what women have been doing to make their mark in this male-dominated industry. The McBride Sisters’ Black Girl Wines was mentioned in the last post on Richard Mayhew and Black-American Vintners. In this case, one of the sisters grew up in New Zealand and the other in Monterey, California. When they found each other in 2005, they realized they had this desire to work with winemaking (click the link above to see their story). Their motto is “Break the rules. Drink the wine.” They have been creating delicious wines in a variety of formats, including the She Can ever since they hooked up in 2005. Their website not only shows the wines, but also does guides on food pairing and has a downloadable e-Cookbook. Just click here or go to their website’s Eat+Drink tab (mcbridesisters.com).

Julia, Karoline, and Elena Walch at their wine estate, Alto Adige. Photo credit Elena Walch (ediblesouthflorida.ediblecommunities.com) Hover over image to magnify.

The mother and two daughters above make some of Italy’s most elite wines in their winery, which was built from an old monastery in Termeno, Italy, a commune not far from Bolzano in the north of Italy. The daughters have studied winemaking in France and Australia and returned to Italy to work with their mother, who believes that “beauty must go with quality.” Jeffrey Wolfe, the author of the article, “Women Who Make Wine” goes on to talk about other female vintners like Kristen Belair of Honig Winery in the Napa Valley, who points out that 15% of the vintners in the Napa Valley are women.

There is some evidence that women have certain qualities that make them superb vintners. Karen McNeil’s blog Wine Speed (winespeed.com) presents evidence that women have superior senses of taste and smell, both of which are critical when it comes to making wine (not to mention the food pairings to go with the wines). The science says that women have 50% more olfactory cells in their brains than men, and that comes from studies done by the University of California, San Franciso, School of Medicine.

Amy Bess Cook founder of Women-Owned Wineries. Photo credit vinepair.com. Hover over image to magnify.

Added to this is the women’s ability to know that they must stick together in order to make an impact. WOW or Women-Owned Wineries is a group of female winemakers started by Amy Bess Cook, a writer and communications consultant, as a way to present the public with the choice of supporting women vintners. A “vote with your dollars” sort of movement, the association has grown to some 50 women winemakers in the Sonoma Valley. See the article by Laura Scholz on vinepair.com

Susana Balbo of Susana Balbo Wines, Argentina. Photo credit Susana Balbo decanter.com. Hover over image to magnify.

From Argentina, to Australia, Austria, Chile, France, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S.A, women are showing up as superb winemakers. Decanter’s article “Women in wine: award-winning wines by influential females” gives a run-down on the achievements of female vinters in the countries listed above (click the link under the photo). Each has a story of trial and travail leading to great success, and it is only the beginning.

For more on Women in Wine, take a look at these websites to get a fuller and quite inspiring overview of what is happening in this area of winemaking:

“California’s Next Generation Lead Women Winemakers and the Promise that Accompanies their Success,” grapecollective.com

“11 Best Wines Made by Women,” bestproducts.com

“Five Inspiring Women in the World of Wine,” townandcountrymag.com.

“Women in Wine, Top Female Winemakers” Decant with D video for Women’s History Month on youtube.com

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and     CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2022

COMING SOON: An Art History C.S.I. Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet – Love? but no Letters, plus Veuve Clicquot, the Widow and Her Champagne.

Le repos (Repose) by Edouard Manet, 1871. Hover over image to magnify.

Lovely, isn’t she? That is Berthe Morisot, a painter in her own right, who was the subject of 17 portraits by Edouard Manet, painted right up until she married his brother. The Morisot family and the Manet family were quite close and had lots of correspondence between them, invitations, social events, and the like. However, despite Manet’s obvious interest in Berthe, as she modeled for all those portraits, there is not one letter between the two of them, an art history mystery.

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