The Laundress
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
- 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
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