Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet

Julie Manet, the daughter of Édouard Manet and the most famous female Impressionist artist, Berthe Morisot, was born in Paris on November 14 into a wealthy and cultured milieu at the height of the Impressionist era. Many young girls still confide their inner thoughts to diaries, and it is hardly surprising that, with her mother giving all her encouragement, Julie would prove to be no exception to the rule.

At the age of 10, Julie began writing her “memoirs,” but it wasn’t until August 1893,...