Julie Manet – Who Was This Pretty Girl Immortalized by the Impressionists?

Julie Manet – called the beauty of Impressionism – was the daughter of the wealthy, well-connected painter Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet, brother of the famous Impressionist painter Édouard Manet. The girl’s mother was highly valued as a painter in the art world, and her early work was displayed for many years at the Paris Salon. Gustave Geoffrey later wrote of her that: “No one represents Impressionism with more refined talent or more authority than Morisot.” See how she painted her daughter!

The beautiful Julie Manet was painted from the first moments she came into the world by her mother, who quite often painted children. Both Morisot and her brother-in-law Édouard Manet continued portraying Julie throughout her childhood and early years as a teenager.

Julie had a beautiful upbringing, surrounded by great artists. Even after the untimely death of her parents when she became an orphan at the age of 16, she did not step out of the scene and continued posing for Pierre-Auguste Renoir, amongst others.

Julie began writing her memoirs when she was 10 years old, and they were published in 1987 under the title Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet. Her work reveals fascinating stories about her family, as well as about other prominent artists including Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet.

One of the first paintings of the little muse was released in 1880, only two years after she was born. Berthe Morisot presents her little daughter on the lap of a nurse.

Here, Renoir shows her in a subtle way and with a melancholic look. The second painting down below is a portrait of Julie and her mother, Berthe Morisot.