Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

These pastel studies are for a painting for the Carnaval de Nice that went unrealised by Morisot. They exemplify Morisot's love of colour and her power to observe the expressive nuances of physical mannerisms. Family legend had it that the Morisots were descended from Fragonard, the master of the Ancien Régime, and one can certainly see the influence of the Rococo painter's soft pinks and blues in these intimate sketches of the carnival character Domino.