The 15-year-long friendship between French impressionists Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot has never been put on full display until now.
Manet & Morisot, Legion of Honor’s newest exhibit, now open, showcases the close relationship between the two artists. Despite their historic friendship within the Impressionist movement, this is the first major exhibition dedicated to their connection.
This achievement was a long time coming for Emily Beeny, Curator in Charge of European Paintings, and Thomas Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
“As a former director, I know well from my experience that many creators have one treasured hope, an ideal exhibition in their hearts,” Campbell said. “It’s always, for me, one of the most satisfying and rewarding parts of my work when I can help bring to light such a passion project.”
Beeny added it was an “exhibition all about dialogue.”
The Manet-Morisot dialogue began in the Louvre in the mid-1860s, while Morisot worked as the museum’s copyist. The two remained close friends for the next decade with Morisot marrying Manet’s brother, Eugène, in 1874.
As Morisot came into her own as a painter, she modeled for Manet, appearing in various works throughout his career. One of the most famous portrayals of Morisot is in Manet’s work “The Balcony,” painted in 1868-69.
Portrayed at a seaside hotel in the north of France, Morisot appears in the foreground with her arm perched on the railing. According to Beeny, Morisot attended the sittings for this painting with her mother as Manet’s reputation as a rugged, risk-taking artist would not bode well with Morisot’s bourgeois background.
“It’s useful to remember that posing for Manet itself involved a risk for someone out of Morisot’s social status,” Beeny said. “The idea of actually appearing in his pictures did involve some sort of whiff of potential scandal.”
One of the exhibit’s highlights is its display of the Four Seasons, a series of paintings that depict the seasons as wealthy, elegant Parisiennes. Morisot portrays “Summer” (1878-80) and “Winter” (1880) and Manet paints “Autumn” (1881) and “Spring” (1881-82). This is the first time these four pieces have been displayed together at a major exhibition.
As one walks through the gallery, the sense of how each artist influenced each other’s work is palpable. In eerily similar canvases such as “View of the 1867 Exposition Universelle” by Manet in 1867 and “View of Paris from the Trocadero” by Morisot in 1871-72, the composition appears almost identical.
The exhibit aims to show the complexities of the Manet-Morisot partnership, going beyond mere master-pupil or artist-model narratives. Manet and Morisot were more than each other’s artistic muses, they were equals.
According to Campbell, the show “reveals it’s a much more complex, more interesting, more nuanced story.”
The exhibition will take place from Oct. 11, 2025 to March 1, 2026.
