THE DEVASTATION OF BLOODY WEEK AND MORISOT'S RESOLVE Colleague Sebastian Smee. In May 1871, French government forces retook Paris during "Bloody Week," a period of atrocity where summary executions were rampant and the streets "ran red with blood." In response, Communards burned major landmarks, including the Tuileries Palace and the Hôtel de Ville. Manet, though absent during the final violence, created a lithograph depicting the execution of Communards as an indictment of the government's brutality. Berthe Morisot witnessed the destruction firsthand; rather than deterring her, the trauma of the "Terrible Year" strengthened her resolve to become a professional artist, a radical decision for a woman of her class. While many were executed or exiled to New Caledonia, Morisotchanneled the instability of the era into her work, emerging from Manet's shadow to become a distinct and innovative painter in her own right. NUMBER 5
1893