L'Impressionnisme et la Mode, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Albert Bartholomé's Dans la serre (1881) is on display along with the dress that Madame Bartholomé wore for the sitting.
Photograph: Musée d'Orsay/RMN/Hervé Lewandowski; RMN/Patrice Schmidt

Mallarmé observed of Manet that in his paintings, figures and clothing lose 'a little of their substance and solidity': Manet's La Dame aux éventails (1873).
Photograph: Musée d'Orsay/RMN/Hervé Lewandowski

Renoir's La Balançoire (1876) draws our attention to the play of light on the folds of the dress fabric.
Photograph: Musée d'Orsay/RMN/Hervé Lewandowski

With figures depicted in everyday settings – as in Monet's Femmes au jardin (1866) – the Impressionists sought to capture the constantly changing natural world.
Photograph: Musée d'Orsay/RMN/Hervé Lewandowski

In Manet's depiction of a scene from bourgeois life, Le Balcon (1868-69), the brutal contrast between the white dresses and the darkness of the background were seen as provocative when the painting was first exhibited at the 1869 Salon.
L'Impressionnisme et la Mode is at the Musée D'Orsay until 20 January 2013
Photograph: Musée d'Orsay/RMN/Hervé Lewandowski