Julie with Pasie in the Garden at Bougival (1882) is an oil painting by the French Impressionist Berthe Morisot depicting her daughter, Julie Manet, with the family dog, Pasie, in the garden of their home at Bougival on the Seine. The work, measuring 60.1 × 73.3 cm, belongs to the collection of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales ^[3]. It exemplifies Morisot's mature style of the early 1880s, in which she applied loose, rapid brushwork to intimate scenes of domestic life, a subject that distinguished her within the Impressionist circle ^[1].

Subject: Julie Manet and Pasie at Bougival

The painting's central figures are Julie Manet (1878–1966), the artist's only child, and the dog Pasie, shown in a garden setting ^[3]. Morisot married Eugène Manet, the brother of her colleague Édouard Manet, and Julie was their daughter ^[1]. Bougival, a village west of Paris on the Seine, was a favored retreat for artists in the late 19th century, and Morisot's garden there provided a recurring setting for her depictions of Julie's childhood. The work's informal composition—a child at leisure with a pet—reflects the Impressionist interest in capturing unposed, everyday moments rather than staged allegories ^[1].

Technique: loose brushwork and plein-air immediacy

Morisot's technique in this painting is consistent with her participation in the Impressionist exhibitions, where she was a regular contributor from 1874 to 1886 ^[1]. Her application of paint in swift, feathery strokes conveys the flicker of light through foliage and the movement of the figures, a hallmark of her approach to plein-air subjects. Unlike the more finished surfaces of academic painting, Morisot's visible brushwork emphasizes the transient effects of atmosphere and the spontaneity of the scene, aligning her with contemporaries such as Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who also exhibited in the first Impressionist show of 1874 ^[1].

Provenance: from the artist's studio to Museum Wales

The painting entered the collection of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, where it is recorded under the title Julie with Pasie in the Garden at Bougival ^[3]. The work is also documented in the Wikidata entry as Woman and Child in a Meadow at Bougival, an alternate title reflecting the ambiguity of the figures' relationship in some cataloguing records ^[3]. A high-resolution reproduction of the painting is hosted on Wikimedia Commons, facilitating scholarly access to the image ^[4].

Provenance summary

Date	Event
1882	Painting dated to this year [3]
Present	Collection of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales [3]

Context: Morisot among the Impressionists

Morisot (1841–1895) was a founding member of the Impressionist group, first exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1864 before joining the independent exhibitions in 1874 ^[1]. She participated in all but one of the eight Impressionist exhibitions held between 1874 and 1886 ^[1]. In 1894, critic Gustave Geffroy named her one of Les trois grandes dames ("the three great ladies") of Impressionism, alongside Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt ^[1]. Her focus on domestic subjects—motherhood, children, and gardens—offered a distinct perspective within a movement otherwise dominated by male artists, and Julie with Pasie in the Garden at Bougival stands as a representative example of this thematic emphasis ^[1].

Frequently asked questions

When was Julie with Pasie in the Garden at Bougival painted?

The painting is dated to 1882, according to the collection records of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales ^[3].

Who is depicted in the painting?

The painting shows Julie Manet, the daughter of Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet, together with the dog Pasie ^[1][3].

Where is the painting located today?

The work is in the collection of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, in Cardiff ^[3].