Sign in or join

See it hung

On the Balcony

Look first

  • What catches your attention?
  • Where does your eye go next?
  • What would you ask about this work?
Show me

Compare the woman’s dark dress with the child’s pale clothing, then look through the railings toward the lightly sketched city.

Skip to the reading

This small work is watercolor with touches of gouache over graphite, rather than an oil painting. Morisot gives the nearby figures more weight than the distant buildings, using the light paper as part of the view. The railing marks a boundary between the shared balcony and the city beyond.

Spot an error?

Watercolor, with touches of gouache, over graphite, on off-white wove paper · 20.6 × 17.3 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Impressionism

Read more at the Art Institute of Chicago

Sources

Look again

What do you notice now?

Try a quick sketch

Take a minute to sketch on any paper. No upload needed.

What did you draw first? What did you leave out?

Details and source

Museum title
On the Balcony
Artist
Berthe Morisot French, 1841-1895
Date
1871/72
Medium
Watercolor, with touches of gouache, over graphite, on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
20.6 × 17.3 cm (8 1/8 × 6 13/16 in.)
Credit line
Gift of Mrs. Charles Netcher in memory of Charles Netcher II
Image license
CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record
Art Institute of Chicago

Artist’s life 1841–1895

Impressionism c. 1860–1900

View in the Atlas

Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.

On the Balcony · Berthe Morisot, 1871/72
Fit
MuseumM
Shortcuts ?
Enter
Look closer
+ −
Zoom in / out
0
Fit the whole artwork
← → ↑ ↓
Pan the image while zoomed
← →
Previous / next artwork, outside this view
M
Enter or return to the museum
Esc
Close this view; press again to enter the museum

Tab moves between controls. Browser zoom shortcuts stay available.

On the Balcony, Berthe Morisot

+ − Zoom · Arrow keys pan · M Museum · Esc Close