Manet: a model family

Exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 10 October 2024 - 20 January 2025

All families are complicated, but that of Édouard Manet (1832-1883) was more complicated than most. The artist married a piano teacher who worked for his wealthy parents. The latter's son, born out of wedlock, could just as easily be Édouard's, his father's or someone else's son. For all its complexities, Manet's family fuelled his creativity: its members were his most frequent models and supported him emotionally and financially. His mother, wife, stepson and other family members, including his sister-in-law, the painter Berthe Morisot, have long been recognised for their role in Manet's life and work.

Presenting new research on the works in which Manet depicted members of his family, this exhibition catalogue examines Manet from the perspective of the complex family relationships between the artist and his models, shedding new light on the life and masterpieces of the ‘father of modernism’.