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The Laundress

186[3?]
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 802
This painting depicts a subject visible from Daumier’s studio on the quai d'Anjou in Paris: laundresses returning from laundry boats moored on the Seine. Despite the weight of her bulky load, the woman tenderly extends her hand to help a child up the steps of the embankment. With her sturdy form silhouetted against a bright background, the humble worker acquires a certain monumentality. This picture is the largest and possibly the last of three painted versions of the composition; Daumier’s pigments have deteriorated, obscuring the last digit of the date inscribed at the lower left, but in 1893 it was recorded as 1863.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Laundress
  • Artist: Honoré Daumier (French, Marseilles 1808–1879 Valmondois)
  • Date: 186[3?]
  • Medium: Oil on oak
  • Dimensions: 19 1/4 x 13 in. (48.9 x 33 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Lillie P. Bliss, 1931
  • Object Number: 47.122
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The New Oedipus before the New Sphinx (Le nouvel Œdipe devant le nouveau Sphinx), from Actualités
Honoré Daumier
1851
Standing Figure of a Man with a Staff, Honoré Daumier French, Black chalk and graphite
Standing Figure of a Man with a Staff
Honoré Daumier
1825–79
Album Chaos Caricature de tout le monde
Honoré Daumier
Aubert et Cie
[1840]
La Mort de Sapho, from Histoire Ancienne, published in Le Charivari, January 4, 1843
Honoré Daumier
January 4, 1843
Rifolard ouvre le bal. . .
Honoré Daumier
November 21, 1848

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