The Jetty, Isle of Wight (Translation)
La Jetée (Primary Title)
Berthe Morisot, French, 1841 - 1895 (Artist)
Morisot traveled to England with her husband during the summer of 1875. This painting of the West Cowes region on the Isle of Wight is one of several works she completed during that trip. Morisot wrote to her sister Edma of the difficulty she experienced while attempting to depict this lively area of the island: "It is the prettiest place for painting—if one had any talent. . . . People come and go on the jetty, and it is impossible to catch them. . . . There is extraordinary life and movement, but how is one to render it?"
When Morisot exhibited seventeen paintings from the trip at the 1876 Impressionist exhibition, the critical reception was ambivalent. One reviewer from L’Echo universel admitted that the Isle of Wight was immediately recognizable in certain canvases, but he was confused by the artist’s patently impressionistic style, complaining that a close examination of the painting’s compositional details revealed “the presence of monstrous beings, incoherent dabs and crazy perspective,” which he considered destructive to the illusion of the landscape. Morisot’s experimental approach to landscape painting was better understood and appreciated by the collector of modern art Victor Choquet (1821-1891), who purchased the work in 1879.
2019-2021: Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Their Times: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, February 2 - May 5, 2019; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, April 4, 2020 - January 10, 2021
2018-2019: "Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, March 17 - July 15, 2018; Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 22 - September 22, 2019
2012: "Berthe Morisot: 1841-1985", Musée Marmottan Monet - Académie des Beaux-Arts, Institut de France, Paris, France, March 6 - July 29, 2012.
2008: "Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond", California Palace of the Legion of Honor, June 21-Sept. 21, 2008
2001: "Impression: Painting Quickly in France, 1860-1890", (National Gallery, London, November 1 - January 28, 2001; Van Gogh Museums, Amsterdam, March 2 - May 20, 2001; Clark Art Institute, June 17 - September 9, 2001; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, June 16- September 8, 2001)
1987: "Berthe Morisot, Impressionist" Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and National Gallery of Art, September 6 – November 29, 1987.
1985: "French Marine Painting of the Nineteenth Century, Museum of Fine Arts", St. Petersburg, FL, March 16-May 5, 1985
1929: "Berthe Morisot," Galerie Berheim-Jeune, Paris, 1929, No. 25
1905: Londres, Grafton Galleries, no. 164
1902: "Berthe Morisot," Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1902, No. 53
1892: "Berthe Morisot," Galerie Bussod et Valadon, Paris 1892, No. 14
1876: "Deuxième Exposition des Impressionistes," Paris, 1876
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
