Berthe was as well connected as one can get in the world of art. Her circle included artists and writers such as her brother-n-law and Paule’s instructor Claude Monet the world famous impressionist, Edgar de Gas Paule’s instructor a Naturalist, Impressionist, painter, her daughter (Paule’s cousin) Julie Manet a painter and art collector, Henri Gervex Paule’s instructor and a French pastellist, Stéphane Mallarmé a French poet, teacher, translator and art critic, Auguste Renoir world famous French impressionist and Paule’s instructor, André Gide a writer, Odilon Redon a French symbolist painter, Ernest Rouart a painter, engraver, pastellist and collector who married Paule’s cousin Julie Manet, and Paul Valéry a French writer, poet and philosopher who married Paule’s sister Jennie. So, needless to say, Paule, her younger sister Jennie and her cousin Julie Manet, were immersed in a world where an artist could hardly swing a paint brush without hitting a famous impressionist.
Paule Gobillard was the eldest of Théodore Gobillard and Yves, née Morisot’s three children. Her siblings were, brother Marcel (1872-1922) and sister Jeannie (1877-1970). Both of Paule’s parents passed on by the time she was sixteen, first her father in 1879 followed by her mother in 1893, after which, she and her siblings. moved in with her aunt Berthe Morisot’s. Julie Manet’s diary, giving a detailed account of their experiences, was published as “Growing Up With The Impressionists”. The manner in which Julie Manet journaled the events and experiences of her youth was a bit messy. The diary consisted of poorly organized scribbles in exercise books. The content however, was an engaging account of her youth, ranging from the intrigue of The Dreyfus Affair to the charm of a young ladies crush on her instructor, “I cannot buy a hat without wondering if Mr. Renoir will like it”.
Berthe Morisot lavished her attentions on all three girls. So Paule benefitted greatly, receiving instruction one of the greatest female masters on impressionist art. She was taken to the Louvre to copy paintings. She was afforded classes with the painter Henri Gervex. With her sister Jeannie, she sent to visited Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where she received painting classes from the master himself. Paule was the subject many Renoir’s and Morisot’s.
Paule studied lighting and landscape under the tutelage of Claude Monet. Monet, after having perfected his technique of painting a variety of light reflections and absorptions is his work “Haystacks”, trained Paule on his technique. The technique would involve painting the same subject, or haystack, for a half an hour a day, at the same time each day, for several consecutive days. Paule’s “Haystacks” were painted at a different time of the day than that of Manet; she chose that half hour beginning just before dawn.
After the death of Berthe Morisot in 1895, Paule, Jeannie and Julie continued to live together in an apartment at 40, rue de Villejust, today’s rue Paul-Valéry, in Paris. The trio was broken up by marriages. Julie Manet married the painter Ernest Rouart and that same year Jeannie Gobillard married the writer Paul Valéry. Paule lived with her sister and Paul Valéry until parted by death; Paule never married.
After the marriages of Jeanie and Julie, Paule devoted the rest of her life exclusively to her art work. Her talents extended to oil paintings, watercolors and pastels. Her subjects included genre scenes, landscapes and still lifes. Within her stylone can see the inspiration of all the great masters that mentored her, as well as a frail femininity that is peculiar to her alone. Exhibitions of her works include the Salon des Independants from 1894 to 1912, the Salon d’Automne from 1904 to 1946, and the Salon des Tuileries in 1926. Paule Gobillard died in Paris at age 69.
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