Armand Guillaumin, Mademoiselle Guillaumin, the Artist’s Daughter, Sewing. 1903. Private collection. 

We can almost feel how tenderly the artist treats his subject: Guillaumin’s own daughter was the model for this painting. She is looking at her needlework intensely, which allows us to see her in an intimate moment. The girl is dressed in comfortable clothes on a couch with her hair down, so she could be working on her sewing before going to bed. The large bird embroidered in the blanket covering the couch may show us the achievements that she could aim for one day if she keeps up her embroidery. It also shows the influence of Japanese and Chinese design, which were immensely popular in France during this period.

Alfred Sisley, The Lesson. 1874, Private collection.

Sisley’s painting shows his son Pierre and his daughter Jeanne sitting at a table with their heads bent over something in concentration. It’s not clear what Jeanne is doing, as her back is to us, but Pierre seems to be reading or writing. Would these two siblings have been given the same education? We know of some girls whose parents gave them the same education as their male siblings, but others had to learn what was expected of them, focusing on homemaking and the arts instead of literature and science. Jeanne went on to become a painter like her father and likely received an artistic upbringing.

Mary Cassatt, Auguste reading to her daughter, 1910. Private collection.

Cassatt lets us see an intimate moment between mother and daughter. Even though the title says Auguste is reading, we seem to have caught her during a pause, as her lips are closed. The fact that she is reading confidently means she has been educated: mother and daughter’s fashionable clothes and hairstyles suggest this family can afford a good education for their daughter if they choose. As this girl grows, her mother will be responsible for teaching her other things like household management and etiquette, which will help her to make a good marriage. 

Even though we do not know the content of the book, it seems to be boring the girl, who stares off into the distance. She will come of age in a very different world than her mother, reaching young womanhood in the tumultuous period of the First World War or the 1920s.

Berthe Morisot, Lucie Léon at the piano, 1892, Private collection.

Lucie Léon looks straight out towards the viewer; she is wearing a fine clear blue dress, which stands out from the darker blue of the wall. She also has a bracelet and her hair is long and well-groomed, tied with a bow at the top of her head. Lucie does not seem particularly happy to be practicing, but we know she later became a successful professional pianist. Like Berthe Morisot, she was one of only a few women in her field; although it was rare, some girls did turn their more limited education into a career. Julie Manet, the artist’s daughter and a close friend of Lucie, wrote in her diary that “Lucie would have preferred to play croquet than pose for the painting.” The theme of girls at the piano is a common one in this period; well-off families took pride in owning pianos and paying for lessons for their children, and well-brought-up girls were expected to have some musical training.

This recording (date unknown) features Lucie Léon and her husband playing Chabrier’s Valse Romantique No. 1 for two pianos:

Berthe Morisot, Girl with Shuttlecock (Jeanne Bonnet), 1888, Private collection.

A girl in a long loose pink dress holds a racket and shuttlecock, ready to play badminton (a net sport similar to tennis, only recently introduced to Europe at the time). Her dress would allow her to move freely to play and was also a way to show decency, as young women wore long skirts to conceal their legs and lower bodies (younger girls and very young boys wore short skirts). She is looking straight at the viewer and seems to have paused her game to pose for the painting. This is the type of game or sport that a girl of lower class would probably not play, as access to a badminton set would have been out of reach for them.

Édouard Manet, The Café-Concert, 1879. Oil on canvas, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.

As women’s roles became more public in the 19th century, they were able to explore more of their cities. Impressionist painters captured many scenes of cafés filled with both men and women. This particular painting shows a crowded scene at one of the popular cabarets in Paris. Manet depicts the different ways in which a woman would have spent time at the café; from working as the entertainment, to enjoying a drink or two among male companions. The young woman at the bar unwinds with a drink, but seems to lack the easy confidence of the man beside her. 

Although women were experiencing new freedoms in the public sphere, these were not universal to all women. Middle-class young women would not be seen outside of their homes without their father or husband or another appropriate chaperone. Unmarried women were expected to guard their reputations closely to avoid situations or even rumors that could damage their futures. Working women, although their days were far more difficult, enjoyed some more freedom of movement in the lively Paris nightlife. 

Édouard Manet, The Railway, 1873. Oil on canvas, The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

As railways continued to take over Europe, travel time between cities and regions decreased, allowing for people of all classes to experience the world around them in a new way. Young women were able to take advantage of the railway in order to visit family or friends, and many took the opportunity to move to the city, away from the more rural areas. The quality of life of many Europeans changed as well, with the ability to transport goods made quicker and easier.  

While the child is entranced by the huge, noisy railway engines that dominate her environment, the young woman seems less sure about this innovation, which meant huge changes for city life in Paris as neighborhoods were razed to build stations and train tracks. The painting also shows the fashions popular for girls at the time: the young girl’s dress, with its tight bodice and oversized bow, is beautiful, but would probably not allow for much play or movement, unlike modern children’s clothing. The older girl’s dress is much more conservative, covering her from neck to wrist; it’s suitable for walking outside in the city. 

Mary Cassatt, A Woman and a Girl Driving, 1881. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.

In Cassatt’s painting, a young girl sits in a carriage driven by an older woman in a lush, forest-like park. The Bois de Boulogne is a large public park in Paris, France. In the mid-late 19th century, there were paths for walking and riding in carriages; and pavilions for entertainment for all classes, such as cafés and theatres, making the park a popular destination for Parisians.  

There would have been plenty for young women to enjoy in the park: they could exercise, take in a show or a cup of coffee, or enjoy chaperoned walks with prospective husbands. The bicycle became hugely popular with young women, who wore special short skirts so they could ride without ruining their dresses.  Cassatt shows us the new and more liberated woman of the period: not only is there a woman driving the carriage, but they are out in public for others to see, showing us how women enjoyed their new freedoms. Cassatt also excelled in showing us girls with rich inner lives and feelings of their own: the girl in the carriage seems to be lost in thought rather than smiling for the viewers. 

Mary Cassatt, The Long Gloves, 1889. Private collection.

The wearing of gloves was a matter of etiquette in 19th-century Europe. Women of different classes wore gloves for a number of reasons. For upper-class young women like the one in this portrait, there would have been different gloves for every occasion, ranging from funerary gloves to gloves for weddings or church. Gloves were to be put on before leaving the house and rarely came off until women returned home. Beside playing a social and fashionable role, they also protected young women’s hands from the elements. 

As the 19th century progressed, so too did views on gloves. While wearing gloves was still seen as a matter of etiquette and elegance, there were more opportunities to not wear them and it was no longer necessary to always have them on as a matter of propriety. The long gloves in this picture are probably opera or evening gloves; this girl might be going to a party or concert, both popular ways to socialize and meet people while showing off your education and cultural values. This type of glove was so tight and difficult to get on and off that women kept them on even to eat in public; Cassatt has captured this girl in a private moment, before she goes out into the world. 

Berthe Morisot, Chasing Butterflies, 1874. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. 

Chasing butterflies is a favorite pastime of many children throughout history. Some things do not change! In the 19th century, butterfly collecting was deemed an educationally acceptable pastime for people, young and old, as there was much to be learned by collecting insects of all sorts. Scientific advances and expeditions to collect specimens from outside Europe, and the opening of natural history museums, zoos, and botanical gardens throughout the century led to widespread public interest in science. 

One of the leading lepidopterists (scientists who study moths and butterflies) during the late 19th century through her death in 1940 was a British woman named Margaret Fountaine. While scientific lessons were deemed appropriate for young women, too much focus on STEM areas would be a cause for concern, as it took women away from their domestic roles and priorities. Chasing after butterflies was considered good exercise for young women like the ones in Morisot’s painting, as it encouraged them to spend some time outdoors on their own families’ properties or public parks. 

 
Édouard Manet, Julie Manet sitting on a Watering Can, 1882. Private collection.

Like her mother, Julie Manet was a model in several works for her uncle Édouard Manet. Julie Manet sitting on a Watering Can, painted in 1882, demonstrates how Manet set aside his realistic formal compositions and embraced his contemporaries’ passion for painting figures and landscapes in the open air. The figure of his four-year-old niece is dressed in a blue summer dress and a rusty-red bonnet. She is perched on a watering can in an indeterminate garden setting, with her broad face set in a frown.

Berthe Morisot, Young Girl Writing, 1891. Private collection.

This painting depicts Julie Manet, at thirteen years old. Julie is seated in front of an ornate wooden easel placed in a tastefully decorated interior at her family’s home in rue de Villejust. She is dressed in a vibrant blue, floral patterned dress with a high collar and narrow sleeves. She is portrayed in the early stages of painting, with a single paintbrush poised over a mostly blank canvas. Her gaze is observant and calmly analytical of her chosen subject matter. She appears to be studying a classical statue from antiquity and its representation of the human form. 

Berthe Morisot, Julie Manet and her Greyhound Laertes, 1893, Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris. 

In 1893, Berthe Morisot painted a portrait of Julie at 15, with her pet greyhound. Julie is depicted in mourning attire: her father, Eugène Manet, had died in 1892. She is shown seated, wearing a black dress with a conservative neckline, a long narrow skirt, and puffed out sleeves at the upper arm that taper to a tight fit from the elbow to the wrist. Her sombre expression articulates her inner grief, yet she appears to draw comfort and reassurance from the presence of her beloved animal companion sitting nearby. The greyhound, named Laertes after a character in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, was given to Julie as a gift by the poet Stéphane Mallarmé, who was a close friend of the family.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot and her daughter, Julie Manet, 1894. Private collection.

Morisot wasn’t the only Impressionist to capture Julie growing up; she frequently sat as a model for Pierre-Auguste Renoir. In April 1894, Renoir painted a family portrait of Julie, aged fifteen, and her mother. Julie is depicted sitting with her right hand in her lap and her left arm extended to the side across the back of an upholstered sofa. Berthe is regally presented in three-quarter length profile. They are both wearing simple A-line shaped dresses with leg of mutton sleeves which gather at the shoulders and fit tightly from the elbow to the wrist. Berthe’s hair is worn on top of her head, in tight curls. Julie is wearing an aureole hat worn towards the back of her head to frame her face in a “halo” effect.