With Violets by Elizabeth Robards
Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)
I remember being in my high school art class when I first learned about the Impressionists. The way they painted the everyday moments of life changed the conception of art. These artists had a different perspective and used their brushstrokes to bring light to canvas in a way that hadn’t been done before. I can’t imagine the world without the haystacks and sunsets of Monet, the movement and beauty of Degas’ ballerinas, or the faces and events captured by Renoir.
But amongst the men were a few women. One of the most well-known is Berthe Morisot. She is the main character in With Violets by Elizabeth Robards. Robards sweeps her readers back to Paris and gives us a glimpse into the lives of the artists who would change the landscape of what art could look like and how art is defined.
The novel opens with Berthe at the Louvre, copying the masters and trying to create a life of her own with her talent and canvas. She is past prime marrying age, as her mother is always willing to point out. Berthe’s life is set on a path of happiness, heartbreak and scandal when she catches the eye of artist Edouard Manet. Manet is a successful artist and he and Berthe begin what will become a heart-wrenching romance. Even through her tumultuous relationship with Edouard, Berthe never loses sight of her real goal: to be recognized as a true artist, just as the men of her social circle.
Berthe joins some of her male artist colleagues, including Monet and Renoir, to have an exhibition of their own. Tired of the constraints placed on them, they longed for an outlet to choose for themselves what paintings would be part of an exhibition. They formed the Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers so they could independently showcase their works of art. It is after this exhibition when the term ‘Impressionism’ is first used.
What Robards provides with this novel is a walk alongside the brilliant artists of the Impressionist movement. We see they were real people with real problems; they argued with one another on the best way to gain a voice for themselves and their work. Berthe was ahead of her time. She was an independent thinker when women were supposed to be compliant and follow the leads of their husbands. Berthe followed her dream of being an artist even though it wasn’t what her family and society thought she should do.
I think Robards painted a masterpiece with this novel. It would have been amazing to sit next to Berthe as she painted at the Louvre or traded banter with Degas but being able to read With Violets was the next best thing.
