EDMA (MORISOT) PONTILLON

Edma Pontillon was Berthe Morisot’s elder sister, and they trained together, receiving private instruction and sharing a studio space. In 1864 they were both admitted to the Salon, and Pontillon exhibited there each year until 1868. In 1869 she married a marine officer and subsequently moved to a small village on the Atlantic coast. She ceased artistic activity, but she regularly corresponded with Berthe and modeled for a number of her paintings. 

A fully illustrated catalogue, Women Artists in Paris, 1850–1900, has been published by the American Federation of Arts and Yale University Press. Along with an art-historical overview by curator Laurence Madeline, the catalogue includes essays by Jane R. Becker, collections management associate, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Richard Kendall, former curator at large, Clark Art Institute; Bridget Alsdorf, associate professor, History of Art, Princeton University; and Vibeke Hansen, curator, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo.