Daydreaming
Framed: 29 1/2 x 34 x 3 1/4 inches (74.93 x 86.36 x 8.26 cm)
3e Exposition de Peinture par MM. Caillebotte, Cals, Cézanne, Cordey, Degas, Guillaumin, Jacques-François, Lamy, Levert, Maureau, C. Monet, B. Morisot, Piette, Pissarro, Renoir, Rouart, Sisley, Tillot [3rd Impressionist Exhibition], 6, Rue Le Peletier, Paris, April 1877, no. 125, as Pastel.
Possibly Exposition de Tableaux, Pastels et Dessins par Berthe Morisot, Boussod, Valadon et Cie, May 25-June 18, 1892, no. 3, as Rêverie.
Berthe Morisot (Madame Eugène Manet): exposition de son œuvre, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, March 5-23, 1896, no. 176, as Rêveuse.
L'Exposition centennale de l'art français de 1800 à 1889, Palais de Fontainebleau, Paris, 1900, no. 506, as Femme étendue sur un divan.
Salon d’Automne, 5ème Exposition: Ouvrages de Peinture, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, Architecture et Art décoratif; Exposition Rétrospective d’Œuvres de Berthe Morisot, Grand Palais, Paris, October 1-22, 1907, no. 153, as Intérieur.
Expositions d’Œuvres des XIXe et XXe siècles, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, June-July 1925, no. 97, as Femme sur un canapé.
Exposition d'Œuvres de Berthe Morisot au Profit des "Amis du Luxembourg," Chez MM. Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, May 6-24, 1929, no. 164, as Femme sur un canapé.
Possibly Exhibition of Masterpieces: French and American 19th Century Paintings, Wildenstein, New York, Summer 1947, no. 18, as Young Woman Reclining.
One Hundred European Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Leigh B. Bloch, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, February 2-April 14, 1968, no. 7, as Woman on the Sofa.
Impressionism: Selections from Five American Museums, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, November 4-December 31, 1989; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, January 27-March 25, 1990; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 21-June 17, 1990; The Saint Louis Art Museum, July 14-September 9, 1990; The Toledo Museum of Art, September 30-November 25, 1990; hors cat. (Kansas City only), as Portrait of a Woman in White (Reverie).
Berthe Morisot showed in all of the Impressionist exhibitions but one. Morisot was a well-off bourgeois woman for whom it was socially unacceptable to travel around Paris without an escort. As a result, she focused largely on domestic scenes. In this pastel, a woman in elegant dress and satin slippers is silhouetted against a sunlit window and translucent curtains. The sitter holds a light blue fan, alluding to the Impressionist interest in Japonisme. This pastel was exhibited at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877 when Morisot attracted praise for her subtle, varied use of white. The critic Théodore Duret noted, “The artist completes her canvases with light strokes of the brush…it’s as if she is scattering flower petals.”
Paul-Antoine (1833–1905) and Marguerite Blanche (née Girod, 1844–1901) Bérard, Paris and Wargemont, near Dieppe, France, as Rêverie, by May 25, 1892 [1];
With C. Martin et G. Camentron, Paris by March 5, 1896;
Auguste Pellerin (1853–1929), Paris, by January 29, 1899–March 27, 1911;
Acquired from Pellerin in an exchange by Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, March 27, 1911–at least 1933 [2];
With Sam Salz (1894–1981), New York, by 1961 [3];
Leigh B. (1905–1987) and Mary Lasker (1904–1981) Block, Chicago, by September 1966;
Purchased from the Blocks by E. V. Thaw and Co., Inc., by June 18, 1979 [4];
Purchased from Thaw by Norton Simon (1907–1993), Beverly Hills, June 18–November 16, 1979 [5];
Returned by Simon to E. V. Thaw, November 16, 1979;
Purchased from E. V. Thaw and Co., Inc. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1979.
NOTES:
[1] Marie-Louise Bataille and Georges Wildenstein identified the pastel lent by Berard to the 1892 exhibition, Exposition de Tableaux, Pastels et Dessins par Berthe Morisot, as the Nelson-Atkins pastel. See Bataille and Wildenstein, Berthe Morisot: Catalogue des Peintures, Pastels et Aquarelles (Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, 1961), no. 434, p. 52.
[2] Possible stock no. 18645. Pellerin used Bernheim-Jeune as his intermediary in an exchange with dealer Ambroise Vollard on March 27, 1911, where Pellerin acquired Cezanne’s Maison dans les Arbres. In exchange, Pellerin gave away several works including the Morisot pastel, Femme sur un canapé. Possibly due to his role in the transaction, Bernheim-Jeune kept the Morisot pastel. For a complete listing of the exchange, see John Rewald, The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996), 341. It is not clear if the pastel was part of the gallery’s stock or part of the private collection of Jossé (called Joseph, 1870-1941), and Gaston (1870-1953) Bernheim-Jeune; see Henri de Régnier, L’art moderne et quelques aspects de l’art d’autrefois; cent-soixante-treize planches d’après la collection privée de MM. J. et G. Bernheim-Jeune (Paris: Bernheim-Jeune, 1919).
[3] The painting was acquired after January 6, 1943 because it does not appear on the list of paintings imported from France into the United States by Sam Salz from November 1939 to March 1940, nor is it mentioned in his inventory of paintings from January 6, 1943. See National Archives and Records Administration, RG131, Foreign Funds Control Investigative Reports, Box 30, no. N 8-2318, and email from Michelle Bird, curatorial associate, French paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, to Danielle Hampton Cullen, NAMA, July 28, 2021, NAMA curatorial file.
In 1961, the painting was published as being with “A. Th. Sam Sals, New York” in Bataille and Wildenstein, Berthe Morisot: Catalogue des Peintures, Pastels et Aquarelles (Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, 1961), no. 434, p. 52.
[4] See letter from Eugene Victor Thaw to Meghan Gray, NAMA, July 14, 2011, NAMA curatorial files. According to Thaw, the gallery had the pastel for a very short time, as it was purchased by NAMA almost immediately.
[5] See Sara Campbell, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), 426.
Catalogue de la 3e Exposition de Peinture par MM. Caillebotte, Cals, Cézanne, Cordey, Degas, Guillaumin, Jacques-François, Lamy, Levert, Maureau, C. Monet, B. Morisot, Piette, Pissarro, Renoir, Rouart, Sisley, Tillot , exh. cat. (Paris: Imprimerie E. Capiomont et V. Renault, 1877), 10 [repr. in Theodore Reff, ed., Modern Art in Paris: Two-Hundred Catalogues of the Major Exhibitions Reproduced in Facsimile in Forty-Seven Volumes , vol. 23, Impressionist Group Exhibitions (New York: Garland, 1981), unpaginated], as Pastel.
Possibly A. P., “Beaux Arts,” Le Petit Parisien 2, no. 173 (April 7, 1877): 2.
Possibly C. D., “L’Exposition des impressionnistes,” Le Petit Moniteur Universel, no. 98 (April 8, 1877): 2.
Léon de Lora, “L’Exposition des impressionnistes,” Le Gaulois, no. 3094 (April 10, 1877): 2, as Jeune femme couchée.
Jacques, “Menus Propos: Exposition impressionnistes,” L’Homme Libre (April 12, 1877): 2.
Georges Rivière, “L’Exposition des impressionnistes,” L’impressionniste, no. 2 (April 14, 1877): 4.
Possibly Charles Bigot, “Causerie Artistique: L’Exposition des ‘impressionnistes’,” La Revue politique et littéraire 6, no. 44 (April 28, 1877): 1048.
Fréderic Chevalier, “Les Impressionnistes,” L’Artiste: Revue de Paris, Historie de l’art contemporain 48, no. 1 (May 1, 1877): 332.
Georges Rivière, “Les Intransigeants et les impressionnistes: Souvenirs du salon libre de 1877,” L’Artiste 2, no. 49 (November 1, 1877): 300.
Possibly Exposition de Tableaux, Pastels et Dessins par Berthe Morisot, exh. cat. (Paris: Boussod, Valadon et Cie, 1892), unpaginated [repr. in Theodore Reff, ed., Modern Art in Paris: Two-Hundred Catalogues of the Major Exhibitions Reproduced in Facsimile in Forty-Seven Volumes , vol. 43, Exhibitions of Impressionist Art I (New York: Garland, 1981), unpaginated], as Rêverie.
Berthe Morisot (Madame Eugène Manet): exposition de son œuvre, exh. cat. 2nd ed. (Paris: Durand-Ruel, 1896), 31, as Rêveuse.
Possibly Claude Bienne, “Exposition de l’Œuvres de Berthe Morisot,” La Revue Hebdomadaire 5, 46 (March 1896): 470.
Arsène Alexandre, “l’Œuvre de Mme Berthe Morisot,” Le Figaro 42, no. 66 (March 6, 1896): 5.
Catalogue officiel illustré de l'exposition centennale de l’art français de 1800 à 1889 , exh. cat. (Paris: Imprimeries Lemercier, 1900), 212 [repr. in Theodore Reff, ed., Modern Art in Paris: Two-Hundred Catalogues of the Major Exhibitions Reproduced in Facsimile in Forty-Seven Volumes , vol. 7, World’s Fair of 1900 (New York: Garland, 1981), unpaginated], as Femme étendue sur un divan.
André Fontainas, “L'exposition centennale de la peinture française ,” Mercure 7, no. 127 (July-September 1900): 157, as Femme étendue sur un divan.
Salon d’Automne, 5ème Exposition: Catalogue des Ouvrages de Peinture, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, Architecture et Art décoratif; Exposition Rétrospective d’Œuvres de Berthe Morisot , exh. cat. (Paris: Compagnie Française des Papiers-Monnaie, 1907), unpaginated, as Intérieur.
André Pératé, “Le Salon d’Automne,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts, no. 605 (November 1, 1907), 392.
Roger Marx, “Les Femmes Peintres et l’Impressionnisme: Berthe Morisot,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts, no. 606 (December 1, 1907): 304, 498-99, (repro.), as Le Femme en peignoir rose.
Louis Rouart, “Berthe Morisot (Mme Eugène Manet) 1841-1895,” Art et Décoration: Revue Mensuelle d’art Moderne, no. 5 (May 1908): 174, (repro), as Intérieur.
Roger Marx, Maîtres d’hier et d’aujourd’hui (Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1914), 310, as Femme en peignoir rose.
Henri de Régnier, L’art moderne et quelques aspects de l’art d’autrefois; cent-soixante-treize planches d’après la collection privée de MM. J. et G. Bernheim-Jeune (Paris: Bernheim-Jeune, 1919), unpaginated, (repro.), as La Femme à l’éventail.
Expositions d'Œuvres des XIXe et XXe siècles , exh. cat. (Paris: Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, 1925), unpaginated, as Femme sur un canapé.
Exposition d'Œuvres de Berthe Morisot au Profit des “Amis du Luxembourg” , exh. cat. (Paris: Moderne Imprimerie, 1929), unpaginated, as Femme sur un canapé.
Monique Angoulvent, Berthe Morisot (Paris: Albert Morancé, 1933), no. 93, pp. 122, (repro.), as Jeune fille en rose ( Rêveuse).
Lionello Venturi, Les Archives de l’impressionnisme, vol. 2 (Paris: Durand-Ruel, 1939), 319.
Possibly Exhibition of Masterpieces: French and American 19th Century Paintings , exh. cat. (New York: Wildenstein, 1947), unpaginated, as Young Woman Reclining.
Possibly Howard Devree, “By Groups,” New York Times 96, no. 32663 (June 29, 1947), 6X, as Young Woman Reclining.
Marie-Louise Bataille and Georges Wildenstein, Berthe Morisot: Catalogue des Peintures, Pastels et Aquarelles (Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, 1961), no. 434, pp. 52, 225, (repro.), as Rêveuse.
Francine Du Plessix, “Collectors: Mary and Leigh Block,” Art in America 54, no. 5 (September-October 1966): 69, (repro.), as Woman on a Sofa.
One Hundred European Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Leigh B. Bloch, exh. cat. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1968), unpaginated, (repro.), as Woman on the Sofa.
The Collector in America , compiled by Jean Lipman and the Editors of Art in America (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971), 109, (repro.).
Donald Hoffman, “Gallery Acquires Degas, Morisot,”Kansas City Star 100, no. 65 (December 2, 1979): 6E, as The Dreamer.
Donald Hoffman, “Intensity and nuance: the Nelson’s new pastels: Impressionist masterworks by Degas and Morisot,” Kansas City Star 100, no. 77 (December 16, 1979): 3, 24-26, (repro.), as The Dreamer.
Rosalind C. Truitt, “What’s new? To find out, take a break and visit the Nelson Gallery,” Kansas City Times 100, no. 267 (July 15, 1980): A6, as Rêveuse.
Donald Hoffman, “The Nelson gets first prize for new artworks,”Kansas City Star 100, no. 263 (July 20, 1980): 4E, as The Dreamer.
Donald Hoffmann, “Benefactors’ gifts help keep inflation at bay at the Nelson,” Kansas City Star 101, no. 225 (June 7, 1981): 1F.
Sophie Monneret, L’Impressionnisme et son Époque (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1981), 2: 90, 3: 159, as Pastel and Femme étendue sur un divan.
Jean Dominique Rey, Berthe Morisot (Paris: Flammarion, 1982), 41.
Charles S. Moffett, The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886, exh. cat. (Geneva: Richard Burton SA, 1986), 205.
Jane Roberts, Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet (London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1987), 159, as Femme en rose sur un canapé.
Charles F. Stuckey and William P. Scott, Berthe Morisot: Impressionist, exh. cat. (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1987), 72, 74, (repro.), as Daydreaming.
Suzanne G. Lindsay, “Berthe Morisot and the Poets: The Visual Language of Woman,” Helicon Nine: The Journal of Women’s Arts and Letters, no. 19 (Summer 1988): 11, 15, 17, (repro.), as Day-Dreaming (Rêveuse).
Kathleen Adler, Perspectives on Morisot (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1990), 55, 56n34, 84.
Roger Ward, “Selected Acquisitions of European and American Paintings at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 1986-1990,” The Burlington Magazine 133, no. 1055 (February 1991).
Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 208, (repro.), as Daydreaming.
“New Lecture Series Debuts in September,” Newsletter (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) (Summer 1995): 8, (repro.), as Daydreaming.
Ruth Berson,The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874-1886: Documentation, Exhibited Works, new ed. (San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1996), 1: no. III-125, pp. 119, 139, 142, 157, 162, 174, 183, 186, 2: pp. 78, 97, (repro.), as Pastel.
John Rewald, The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996), 341, as Femme sur un canapé.
Margaret Shennan, Berthe Morisot: The First Lady of Impressionism (Gloucestershire, England: Sutton, 2000), 183, 185, as Dreaming ( Rêveuse).
Sylvie Patry and et. al., Berthe Morisot, 1841-1895, exh. cat. (Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2002), 178, 186-87, (repo.), as La Rêveuse.
Richard Shone, French Impressionist Painting: The Janice H. Levin Collection, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003): 78, 80, (repro.) as Daydreaming.
Norio Shimada, The History of Impressionism, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 2004), 150-51, (repro.).
Frances Borzello, At Home: The Domestic Interior in Art (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006), 58-9, 189, (repro.), as Daydreaming (Rêveuse).
Keiko Sakagami, Berthe Morisot, exh. cat. (Tokyo: Shogakukanm, 2006), 32, (repro.).
Pierre Sanchez, Dictionnaire du Salon d’Automne: Répertoire des Exposants et Liste des Œuvres Présentées, 1903-1945 , vol. 3 (Dijon: Échelle de Jacob, 2006), 1007, as Intérieur.
Hugues Wilhelm, Berthe Morisot, 1841-1895: A Retrospective, exh. cat. (Tokyo: APT International, 2007), 74-75, (repro.), as Dreamer (Rêveuse).
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 120, (repro.), as Daydreaming.
Ingrid Pfeiffer and Max Hollein, ed., Women Impressionists, exh. cat. (Frankfurt am Main: Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2008), 69, (repro.), as Dreaming Girl.
Sara Campbell, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), 426, (repro.), as Daydreaming.
Alex Danchev, Cézanne: A Life (New York: Pantheon Books, 2012), 273.
Possibly Normandy Impressionist Festival, exh. cat. (Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2016).
Cindy Kang et al., Berthe Morisot: Female Impressionist, exh. cat. (New York: Rizzoli Electa, 2018), 126, as The Dreamer.
Christopher Lloyd, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Drawings (London: Thames and Hudson, 2019), 138, 144, (repro.), as Daydreaming.
Danielle Hampton Cullen, “Berthe Morisot, Daydreaming, 1877,” catalogue entry and Rachel Freeman, “Berthe Morisot, Daydreaming, 1877,” technical entry in French Paintings and Pastels, 1600–1945: The Collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art , ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2021), https://doi.org/10.37764/78973.5.634.4033 .
Julian Zugazagoitia and Laura Spencer. Director's Highlights: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Celebrating 90 Years, ed. Kaitlyn Bunch (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), 100, (repro.).
