Winter: Woman with a Muff (1880) Berthe Morisot
Ah, muffs. I very almost did 'Muffvent' this year but I feel certain people would not be able to cope, and I'm not sure I can sustain that level of filth and innuendo for 24 days. Who am I kidding, of course I can. Mind you, I'm not sure Father Christmas would have looked too kindly on it and I'm guessing I'm probably already on the 'a bit iffy' list. I want some presents to open, so I'll have to keep the muff-ness down to a minimum.Anyway, here's a rather lovely picture by Berthe Morisot of a lady in winter dress. Morisot was a nineteenth century French Impressionist artist, one of three important women, nicknamed 'les trois grandes dames', working in Parisian society in the avante-garde style. She married her friend Edouard Manet's brother and her daughter was the celebrated artist's model, Julie Manet. Whilst I'm not an enormous fan of Impressionism, I like it but it doesn't grab me like Pre-Raph stuff does, I love the work of Morisot and Mary Cassatt, especially their portraits of women.
I love the glow of white around the lady in this picture. She is golden and bright, with the air of frost nipping the air about her and the scarf around her neck. The depth of color in her muff speaks of warmth and comfort, a necessity for this stylish young woman who has spirit and determination about her expression. She's off to enjoy life and will not let a bit of frost get in her way.
My suggestion for Christmas pressie today is for the ladies. Those who have the dubious pleasure of spending time with me in person know I am a girl who likes a big frock. I get my massive 50s frocks from a company called Lindybop and they have started doing dresses and skirts in William Morris-inspired and Victorian prints. A particular favorite of mine is their lovely 'Ophelia' dress which comes in a wonderful Morris-like floral print. There would be nothing more lovely than swanning around in that come Christmas morning...
Ophelia dress, around £35
To buy the dress from Lindybop's website go here or to Amazon, who stock the frocks too.
See you tomorrow...
