The Pink Dress (Albertie-Marguerite Carré, later Madame Ferdinand-Henri Himmes, 1854–1935)

The Pink Dress (Albertie-Marguerite Carré, later Madame Ferdinand-Henri Himmes, 1854–1935) is an oil on canvas painting created by Berthe Morisot sometime between 1865 and 1875. This intimate portrait depicts Morisot's young cousin, Albertie-Marguerite Carré, who appears seated with a quiet intensity. Morisot, a foundational figure among the French Impressionists, often concentrated her artistic gaze on the private sphere and the lives of contemporary women, frequently utilizing family members as her subjects for portraits. The broad decade spanning the execution of this work suggests a transitional moment in Morisot’s development, marking a shift from the precise modeling of her early training toward the looser, more immediate brushwork characteristic of her mature Impressionist style.

The composition is dominated by the richness of the sitter’s clothing. The heavily textured pink dress provides a focal point, setting the subject against a relatively indistinct background, which allows Morisot to emphasize texture and light effects on the fabric. The rendering of Albertie-Marguerite as a poised young woman exemplifies Morisot’s empathetic approach to portraiture and her dedication to capturing Parisian life in the late nineteenth century. Morisot’s choice of subject elevates the domestic scene, making this canvas an important cultural record. Today, the painting is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Due to its significance and age, high-quality prints of this Impressionist masterwork are frequently available through public domain initiatives.