Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Autograph letter signed (‘B. Manet’) to the gallerist ‘Maurice’ [Joyant], n.p., 6 August 1892
In French. Two pages, 178 x 113mm, bifolium, on mourning writing paper. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 1 & 2 December 1994, lot 654.

The prominent Impressionist writes to the Paris gallerist Maurice Joyant following an exhibition of her work. Morisot asks Joyant for a ‘compte en detail’ of sales following an exhibition of her work at Joyant’s gallery: 'I do not fully understand the one that I took with me today at the end of the exhibition'; she gives a breakdown of the totals, and indicates that 'la vente de la jeune fille' is not yet accounted for; in addition, she asks Joyant to check his reserves, as he should still have ‘une vue de Nice au pastel, une vue très étendue que j’avais reproduite 2 fois une fois à l’aquarelle une fois en pastel’.

Morisot is perhaps the most celebrated of the four ‘canonical’ female Impressionists (alongside Cassatt, Gonzalès and Bracquemond), and letters written by her – especially those referring to her work – are uncommon, with only three sold at auction in the last decade. After the death of Theo Van Gogh, Maurice Joyant took over the Galerie Boussod, Valadon et Cie., Paris, where he held an exhibition of Morisot’s work from May to June 1892 (‘Exposition de tableaux, pastels et dessins par Berthe Morisot’). The mourning paper on which the letter is written is presumably for Morisot’s husband, Eugène Manet, who had died earlier the same year.