Femme et enfant sous les arbres Berthe Morisot was an extraordinary painter. She had strong ties to Impressionist artists. In particular, she was friends with Camille Pissarro, Marcellin Desboutin and Edgar Degas, but particularly with Edouard Manet, whose brother she married. The theme of the woman, whether mother, relative or nurse, was a subject of great inspiration for Berthe Morisot, who produced drawings and also etchings on this subject. Tender scenes of mothers nursing babies and playing with them and scenes of maternal love in general are often the focus of her work. This colored pencil drawing is no exception and depicts a woman with a child, surrounded by grass and flowers. With just a few sketched strokes in muted colors, Morisot manages to render the depicted figures with immediacy, in a scene with a delicate and fresh composition. This work, from the collection of the poet Paul Valery, gives us insight into Morisot's entire poetic dialectic. Berthe Morisot took part in the Salons and was a leading female protagonist within the group of impressionist painters.