Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet’s only daughter, Julie, was born on November 14, 1878. The child quickly became her mother’s favorite model. While there are many stand-alone portraits of the little girl, it is rare to see her depicted with her father, as is the case here. Berthe captures a scene of family intimacy. The father and daughter are posed in the garden of the house at 4 Rue de la Princesse, which the family regularly rented in Bougival from 1881 to 1884. Sporting a hat and a pretty pink dress, Julie is playing with a construction game balanced on her father’s lap. He is comfortably seated on a bench. Tasked in 1882 with selecting which works by his wife would be included in the seventh Impressionist exhibition, he chose this painting over the objections of the artist. The delicacy of her palette was much praised and earned the picture the title of “Impressionism par excellence” (Philippe Burty, La République française, March 8, 1882).