Family Portraits Children in Impressionist Art

The impressionist artists accorded great importance to family life, often portraying their own mothers, wives, and offspring in scenes of maternity and childhood.

The impressionist masters were known for their close relationships; peers, family, art dealers, and patrons all featured regularly in their artworks, and children were favored subjects. All aspects of childhood and family life at the end of the nineteenth century—maternity, nannies, education, games, animals, adolescence—were depicted in the works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, and others. This volume draws an intimate portrait of the everyday lives of these artists and their families. One hundred paintings are featured alongside genealogical trees and family photographs juxtaposed with more contemporary works. Published to accompany an exhibition at the Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, this volume celebrates children and family ties.

Cyrille Sciama is the general director and chief curator and Marie Delbarre is a research assistant at the Musée des impressionnismes Giverny. Dominique Lobstein specializes in impressionist painting. Marianne Mathieu is scientific director of the Musée Marmottan Monet. Sylvie Patry is the former director of conservation and collections at the Musée d’Orsay, and the former conservation consultant at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Philippe Piguet is an art critic and exhibition curator. Marie Simon is an art historian. Philippe Thiebault is an honorary general curator of heritage. Elise Wehr is a PhD student.