The Laundress of the Impressionists: The Doomed Character of the 19th Century French Laundress

The Laundress in 19th century France was an integral part of society. However, this job was not considered one of high skill. It paid little and was not desirable. Many of the girls involved were considered to have a low reputation, assumed to be prostitutes and alcoholics. They were believed to be lowest of the lower class. As the Impressionists were rising in the art world, so was the idea that men could freely roam through public and private spaces “unnoticed.” These men would sit, observe, and sketch for hours at a time. Subject to this were French laundresses. The career of laundress was fairly new but was quickly becoming more widespread for lower class French women seeking to bring in income and avoid prostitution. However the pay was so low that many still became prostitutes as well, giving them an immoral reputation. Emile Zola’s L’Assommoir famously brought these women to the forefront of French culture. He portrays the laundress as a character doomed to promiscuity and alcoholism through the downfall of his main character, Gervaise. His depiction quickly became the societal stereotype. Many painters took inspiration from this novel and began to sketch and paint the laundress. While some of these paintings had models, The Laundress became a character for these artists and none of their works are portraits. This exhibit collects some of these depictions of this character and explores how they play into the doomed stereotype these women became subject to.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Laundress

1877-79 

Oil on canvas

31 13/16 x 22 ¼ in

Art Institute of Chicago, Reference Number 1947.102 

 

 

This is one of the most widespread laundress paintings of the Impressionist era. Model Nini Lopez, who posed for many of Renoir's paintings, is depicted as a laundress standing in front of an open door. His hurried brush strokes make her features barely discernible, as Renoir is not creating a portrait but a character. The bare shoulder and rosy cheeks catch the viewers eye and would easily allow one to believe that she is a prostitute. However, the laundry basket at her feet points to her career as a laundress. Unlike many Impressionist painters who made many paintings of the laundress, this is thought to be the only one Renoir completed.

Edgar Degas, A Woman Ironing

Oil on canvas

21 2/8 x 12 1/2 in. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 29.100.46

Drawing inspiration from Japanese Ukiyo-e art, Degas pulls the viewer close into the world of this laundress whose face is turned so the focus is not on her but on her task and the repetitive movement of the iron. The bright white of the fabric against the silhouetted figure returns focus to the laundress. The fabric that the woman is ironing is indiscernible. He does not seek to glorify her task but simply gives viewers a blurred snapshot of the working woman. This is just one of a series of a woman ironing that Degas paints.

 

Edgar Degas, Repasseuses (Women Ironing)

1884-1886 

Oil on canvas

29 ⅞ x 31 ⅞ in.

Musee d’Orsay, Accession Number RF 1985 

 

Here, Degas switches his focus from the task of ironing to the laundress herself. Degas shows the physical demand of the strenuous job through the woman on the right, who has her whole body involved in the movement. Juxtaposed is the woman on the right who is yawning, stretching, and clutching a bottle of wine. Degas is both portraying the stereotype seen in L'Assommoir, and the reality of the work, without emphasizing one over the other. This is one in a series of two laundresses at work that Degas does.

 Honoré Daumier, The Laundress

186[3?]

Oil on oak

19 ¼ x 13 in. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Accession Number 47.122

Daumier captures a laundress and her daughter returning from retrieving a load of laundry from a boat on the Seine. He creates a reverse "spotlight" effect with the sun shining from the left onto the buildings in the background and the subjects under a shadow. In one hand, the mother carries the load of laundry and in the other, the hand of her daughter who walks slightly behind her. She looks down at her daughter, helping her up the steps. Daumier humanizes the woman, making her a mother as well as a laundress. The presence of the little girl also foreshadows that she will likely one day be in the same footsteps as her mother. 

 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Workers’ Daughters on the Outer Boulevard 

1877-1878 

Pen and brown ink, over black chalk, on ivory laid paper 

Art Institute of Chicago Reference Number 1986.420 

 

 

This is one of a series of four illustrations that Renoir created for Émile Zola’s L’Assommoir. This illustration depicts Nana, the daughter of the laundress in Zola’s novel. In this scene, Nana is seen with her friends in a rare moment of innocence and joy. While she is seen as young and pure in this illustration, she becomes the subject for Zola’s next book. In this novel, Nana also attempts the career of a laundress. However, like her mother, she is sucked into extreme poverty and despair and becomes a prostitute as Zola continues his doomed laundress narrative.