Videos feature women artists
by Alicia Berger, Reporter

  What started as a way for art appreciation students to receive extra credit has turned into an art video series open to all students.
   This semester the NE Campus series will feature women artists.
   The first film, The Lost Impressionist, features Berthe Morisot, who painted in the mid to late 1800s, and will be shown Tuesday, Sept. 16.
   Martha Gordon, NE art department chair, had seen Morisot's works in museums in France and Sweden.
   "Her video recently became available, so we decided to use it this year," she said.
   The Lost Impressionist will be shown in NFAB 194 at 2 p.m.
   "Students should come and check out our state-of-the-art film center. It's just like being at the movies," Gordon said.
   Gordon said the film could offer students a deeper understanding of the artist as well as the time in which she lived.
   As a wife, mother and artist, Morisot defied the standards and expectations of her time.
   During Morisot's lifetime, a woman's role was generally inside of the home, restricted to domestic tasks.
   Although a female artist was a revolutionary idea at the time, Morisot's mother allowed her to take painting lessons from Geoffrey Alphonse Chocarne and later from master landscaper Corot.
   Even in the early stages of her artistic career, Morisot was reported to be liberal with her talents and not as disciplined with artistic guidelines as pupils were expected to be.
   By her early 20s, Morisot was exhibiting her work in the French Salon, which was the most important exhibit for any artist of the time, but it was especially remarkable for a woman to be recognized in this type of prestigious event.
   Around this time, Morisot befriended Edouard Manet, who had a great influence on her life.
   Manet is credited with introducing her not only to the Impressionists but also to her future husband Edmond Manet, his brother.
   The Impressionists were a group of artists rebelling against the standards of critique that the French Salon judged artists' works by.
   The group of artists began to show their own work independently and free from academic evaluation.
   Shortly after her marriage to Edmund, Morisot began exhibiting her work with the Impressionists. This action surprised some at the time because her work was favored among the judges at the Salon.
   Berthe became a mother in her 30s, and her daughter Julie became the subject in most of her works. Morisot died of pneumonia in 1895 after nursing Julie through influenza.
   In its third year, the video series was the brainstorm of Karla Hyde, instructional associate.
   "We have had an extensive library of videos that were barely used because of how fast teachers have to present their material in class. We decided this would be a great way to use them," she said.