In the Dining Room

Berthe Morisot

National Gallery of Art

A young woman with pale, peach skin wearing a white apron over an ankle-length navy-blue dress stands in a dining room in this vertical painting. The painting is created using loose brushstrokes throughout. The woman stands facing and looking out at us. Her auburn-brown hair is pulled up into a bun, and bangs sweep across her forehead. Her eyebrows are slightly raised, her deep pink lips are closed in the hint of a smile, and she holds her hands at her chest. Some details throughout the painting are indistinct because of the loose painting style but she might hold a mixing bowl. The high-necked bodice of the dress has buttons down the front, and the apron falls to mid-shin. A tall curio cabinet fills the space to our left and brushes the top edge of the canvas. It seems to be filled with white or silver serving pieces, and a white cloth is draped over one of the open cabinet doors below. A clock hangs on a wall over an oil lamp between the woman and curio cabinet. Light pours in through a tall window or French doors behind the woman to our right. Roughly painted forms suggest a house and landscape beyond. One chair is pulled up to a round table that is cut off by the right edge of the canvas. A decanter, perhaps glass, and bowl of peach and rose-colored fruit sit on the table. A small white dog with tan spots scampers at the woman’s feet near the chair. The artist signed the painting in brown in the lower left corner: “Berthe Morisot.”