La Petite Niçoise (The Little Girl from Nice)

Dressed in a blue blouse with a rose in the buttonhole, a young girl observes the viewer. Using a device dear to Renaissance artists, she is represented from the waist up, seated in front of a mountainous landscape that fades into a blue horizon. Probably inspired by the hinterland of Nice, where the artist, Berthe Morisot, often stayed, little of the surroundings is revealed and the eye lingers on the sitter’s youth and simplicity, adorned only with earrings and a little lipstick. The restrained touch in the girl’s face and hands contrasts with the sketchier depiction of her clothes.