A Universal Chore: Laundry Around the World

This exhibit focuses on the portrayal of laundresses in artworks around the world and across the centuries. These pieces capture an idea or an artistic style of the culture in which the artist is painting. The inspiration for the exhibit is Degas’ A Woman Ironing. This piece features a French laundress ironing cloth in a laundry shop. Degas was famous for painting laundresses as he painted almost 30 of them in his life. But Degas was not the only artist to capture this subject. Doing laundry has been a part of every culture since clothing was invented. And as long as the chore has been around, artists have been capturing this task. In fact, there is artistic evidence of women washing linen Egypt as early as 2,000 B.C. Some artists, especially European artists, captured paintings of laundresses for their social associations with irresponsible sexuality. In France, laundresses were known as morally loose women, often also prostituting themselves. In other cultures, laundresses were associated with poverty so artworks depicting them were a snapshot of a socio-economic class. Others used the chore to show a glimpse into day-to-day life in their culture. Some saw paintings of laundresses as a familiar subject with which to experiment styles and mediums. No matter the artists’ motive, these artworks provide an enriching peek into the lives of laundresses around the globe. 

 Edgar Degas, A Woman Ironing, 1873, oil on canvas, 29.100.46

In Degas’ painting of a laundress, he draws on the cultural understanding of laundresses to create social commentary. French laundresses were thought to be risqué, lower-class women, but due to the nature of their job, picking up and delivering laundry to clients, they rubbed shoulders with the upper class daily. Laundresses were held in contempt by the bourgeoisie, yet upper-class citizens were still fascinated with their lifestyles. Also, this painting certainly idealizes the work of laundresses as they actually worked in crowded spaces and hot temperatures. Degas’ painting is subtly capitalizing on the sexualization and spectacle of the French laundresses.

Kitagawa Utamaro, Washing Clothes, 1795, Wood Block Color Print, Brooklyn Museum

On the other side of the world, almost 80 years before Degas, Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro portrayed a laundress in his work. While this piece features the same subject matter as Degas’ paintings, Utamaro’s is distinctly Japanese, featuring the sharp lines of the wood block print and the use of negative space. Overall, Utamaro’s body of work includes many beautiful women, as he often painted scenes from Japan’s ‘pleasure districts.’The piece looks similar in style to some of his prints of prostitutes. The laundress’ sexuality is by no means ignored. Her clothing, from her sandals to her head wrap, is distinctly feminine. 

Francisco Laso, The Laundress, 1858, oil on canvas, Museo de Arte de Lima

            Laso chose to portray a laundress through a “costumbrista” painting. “Costumbrista” refers to a Latin art genre that captures a familiar daily scene. This piece shows a servant hanging the laundry to dry. In some ways, this painting can be seen as an idealism of the hard task of laundry (something Degas also did). From the beautiful washing bowl to the blue sky, doing the laundry seems quite nice. This piece can also be interpreted as a reverent depiction of a servant. Laso refrains from overly sexualizing this laundress in contrast with many other artists. Instead, her posture and overall tidiness give her respect and poise.

Pekka Halonen, Washing on the Ice, 1900, oil on canvas, Antell Collections

  

            This unique piece was painted for the Finnish Pavilion at the Paris World’s Fair in 1900. It was meant to show a part of everyday Finnish life and show viewers in Paris what their country looked like. While women in France often washed clothes in the river, this Finnish woman washes her clothes through a hole in the ice. The woman, isolated in a sea of snow and ice, seems peaceful. The piece is simple and clean, emphasizing Finnish ideals.

Doris Clare Zinkeisen, Human Laundry, 1945, oil, Imperial War Museum

 Human Laundry, created by a female war artist, shows the cruelty of war as medical staff washes the emaciated bodies of victims of World War II. Zinkeisen brilliantly plays off of the other depictions of laundresses in art history. The small windows and rows of tables echo earlier depictions of laundry shops. However, this “laundry” is human. This imagery is used to compare the delicate bodies of the victims to thin cloth that laundresses wash. She is using the viewers' visual history to quickly create meaning.

Charles Alston, Woman Washing Clothes, 1970, Pastel, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture

 This pastel of a 1950’s African American woman doing housework is meant to be a 

celebration of the artist’s heritage. Alston, a painter for the WPA, was skilled in public and social art. Many African American women were employed as housekeepers during the 1940s and 1950s so this piece captures both a historical and cultural past. The use of harsh line most likely comes from the influence of murals, of which Alston painted many.