The Harbor at Lorient
Berthe Morisot, 1869
Two figures on a quiet quay. Pale water. Soft boats. A French harbor afternoon with nowhere to rush and nothing to prove.
About this work
The Harbor at Lorient is an 1869 oil by Berthe Morisot in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Her sister Edma sits on a stone parapet under a white parasol at the edge of the harbor of Lorient in Brittany, in a white dress touched with pink and mauve. Fishing boats are moored along the quays, and the sky and its clouds are reflected in the still water. Morisot, born in Bourges in 1841, had shown at the Paris Salon since 1864 and would show in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. She arrived in Lorient in June 1869 and stayed two months with Edma, who had married a naval officer, Adolphe Pontillon, stationed at the port that year. She painted the view from the Quai de Rohan, framed by the Quai des Indes, with the Tour de la Découverte at upper left. Back in Paris she gave the painting to Édouard Manet, who was impressed and afterwards sometimes consulted her on artistic questions; on his advice she retouched Edma's face and the bottom of her dress. It later belonged to Morisot's cousin Gabriel Thomas and to Edward Molyneux, and was bought in 1955 by Ailsa Mellon Bruce, who bequeathed it to the National Gallery in 1970. It measures 43 by 72 cm.
Sources: Wikipedia: The Harbor at Lorient · Wikimedia Commons: The Harbor at Lorient (NGA 52192) · Wikipedia: Berthe Morisot
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 4,000 × 2,343 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 26 × 15 in
- Sizes
- Small (20 × 12 in) · $100 · 195 ppi
Medium (24 × 14 in) · $150 · 167 ppi
Large (36 × 21 in) · $300 · 111 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of The Harbor at Lorient?
Here. The Harbor at Lorient is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (20 × 12 in) for $100, Medium (24 × 14 in) for $150 and Large (36 × 21 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for The Harbor at Lorient?
The file is 4,000 × 2,343 px. Medium (24 × 14 in) is the largest size that prints at 150 ppi or more (167 ppi), the sharpest choice for close viewing; Large (36 × 21 in) prints at 111 ppi, fine from a few feet away but softer up close.
Is it legal to print The Harbor at Lorient?
Yes. The Harbor at Lorient is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
