Maison Berthe Morisot

In December 2024, the town of Bougival inaugurated the Maison Berthe Morisot, the first museum space dedicated entirely to this woman artist, one of the major figures of the Impressionist movement.

Born in 1841 in the city of Bourges, Berthe Morisot grew up in a cultured, middle-class family that enabled her and her sisters to receive an artistic education from a very young age. Berthe’s talent was quickly recognised and she benefited from the support of already famous artists, such as Camille Corot, who introduced her to painting en plein air, or outdoors. She was able to exhibit early works of hers at various official Paris Salons, allowing her, gradually, to become more widely known and to create valuable links, notably with the family of Édouard Manet, whose brother Eugène she would go on to marry. At the very first Impressionist exhibition, in 1874, which gave its name to the whole artistic movement, she was the sole woman to exhibit her works publicly alongside those of her male counterparts, including the likes of Claude Monet and Edgar Degas.

Together with her family, Berthe Morisot spent several summers at Bougival between 1881 and 1884. These stays were, according to her daughter Julia, among ‘the happiest times in her life’. Finding inspiration in the surrounding countryside, she painted several of her most beautiful canvases here, such as La Fable (The Fable), Jardin à Bougival (The Garden at Bougival), and Eugène Manet et sa fille dans le jardin de Bougival (Eugène Manet and his Daughter in the Garden at Bougival), depicting her family at this home she so cherished.

Fully renovated, the Maison Berthe Morisot now boasts a permanent interactive museum trail enabling visitors to learn about the artist’s life and works. Evoking the studio she knew, as well as the veranda and garden, immerse yourself in the world of Berthe Morisot and her family. The original displays will make you feel like you’re travelling back to Bougival in the 19^th century, experiencing the place as it was then, and something of the period’s cultural life.

A temporary exhibition space will enable visitors to learn more about the artist, her interests and times. The Maison Berthe Morisot is also home to a tourism information point, the Bureau d’Information Touristique de l’Office de Tourisme Intercommunal de Versailles Grand Parc, plus there’s a shop selling books and other items.

To make the most of an Impressionist tour of Bougival, embark on a walking trail beside the Seine following in the footsteps of the Impressionnists, the path featuring reproductions of paintings placed in the very spots where they were originally executed.