Skip to Main Content

Artwork Page for Washerwomen

Details / Information for Washerwomen

L'Estampe Originale

Washerwomen

1893
(French, 1849–1918)
publisher

Andre Marty

(French, b. 1857)
France, 19th century
color softground etching and aquatint with etching
Support:
Image: 38 x 21.5 cm (14 15/16 x 8 7/16 in.); Plate: 39.3 x 22.7 cm (15 1/2 x 8 15/16 in.); Sheet: 45.9 x 25.5 cm (18 1/16 x 10 1/16 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection 1955.451
Catalogue raisonné: Lotz-Brissonneau 91
State: III/III
Location: not on view
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Download, Print and Share

Print

Description

Here, Auguste Lepère presented a pair of laundresses ascending steps from a wash boat on the Seine River, where they could pay to clean the loads they had collected. A receptacle for various types of waste, the river was a source of public concern for the unsanitary environment in which laundry was done. Lepère evoked these difficult working conditions by juxtaposing a youthful laundress with one who has spent time in the industry. The figures’ mirrored poses and their contrasting bold and muted tones suggest the passage of time as they carry out their work—a message emphasized by the artist’s caption at upper left: “Youth passes quickly. Virtue!”

Washerwomen

1893

Auguste Louis Lepère, Andre Marty

(French, 1849–1918), (French, b. 1857)
France, 19th century

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    CMA Store

    Nineteenth-Century French Drawings at the Cleveland Museum of Art

    By Britany Salsbury, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, The Cle...
    Nineteenth-Century French Drawings at the Cleveland Museum of Art

    Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism

    by Britany Salsbury, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, The Cle...
    Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism

    Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art

    Forward by David Franklin Introduction by C. Griffith Mann with contri...
    Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art

    Art: The Definitive Visual History

    by Andrew Graham Dixon Discover more than 2,500 of the world’s most in...
    Art: The Definitive Visual History

    Contact us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.