Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), who was associated with the French Impressionists from 1881 to 1884, painted this work in the summer of 1884 in Bougival. The town, where Morisot’s family lived, is located on the banks of the Seine outside Paris. Her works of this period convey the calm and happy life she was enjoying with her family. In this painting, the artist’s daughter, Julie Manet, is portrayed in bright soft colors and nimble brushstrokes, as she sits at a desk holding a flower-like object in the family’s sunroom, which overflows with natural light. Visible through the window are beautiful green trees, and the structure and roof of the neighboring house. This painting typifies Morisot’s treatment of subjects such as familiar people and landscapes.

In 1896, after Morisot’s death, her daughter showed the artist’s work at a memorial retrospective held at the Durand-Ruel Gallery with the assistance of Monet, Renoir, and Mallarmé.

The Western-style painter Matsumoto Shunsuke (1912-1948) created a host of highly lyrical landscape paintings and portraits during the turbulent period that began in the late 1930s and continued until after World War II. One of Matsumoto’s favorite subjects was the cityscape. In this work, the activities of many different people are depicted in loose outlines as they come and go through the town in the right center of the picture. Strewn around the perimeter are inorganic objects such as buildings, streets, train tracks, and bicycles, which appear to be floating in the air without any regard for gravity. With blue as the underlying tone, the dreamlike street space contains a dark-blue striped pattern, resembling waves spreading from the ground to the sky, and the shadows of various round blobs that are filled in with a dark green color – unusual touches for a Matsumoto work. Although the intent behind the painting is unclear, the artist, who lost his hearing at a young age, seems to be attempting to capture the rapidly changing bustle of the city with his keen sense of vision.