Berthe Morisot supports, with all her greatness of soul, the latest impressionist exhibition. Edouard Manet died three years ago now, dying of syphilis after months of agony.
She remembers with emotion that cold day in January 1882: Antonin Proust, Minister of Fine Arts, had made his friend Manet a Knight of the Legion of Honor. After so many years of seeking social recognition almost in vain, without ever having given in or denied his conception of art, this moment had been like revenge for him.