The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 30, 2025

Woman Ironing

1892

Édouard Vuillard

(French, 1868–1940)
France, 19th century
oil on board
Unframed: 21.4 x 25.4 cm (8 7/16 x 10 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.119
Location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Did You Know?

In 1888, Vuillard wrote in his journal: "A form or a color exists only in relation to another. Form does not exist on its own. We can only conceive of the relations."

Description

This spare painting depicts a woman ironing a garment, while a sliver of light illuminates the side of her face and the cup held in her left hand. The subject belongs to a series of paintings of women ironing or sewing inspired by Édouard Vuillard’s close observation of his mother and sister making corsets and dresses in their crowded Parisian apartment.
  • Alfred Athis Natanson [1873-1932], Paris France
    passed to his daughter, Annette Charbonnier [1901–2002], Paris, France
    passed to her son, Jean Philippe Charbonnier [1921–2004], Paris, France
    2013
    (Galerie Hopkins, Paris, France, April 26, 2013, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley)
    2013–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 According to Pierre Georgel, Édouard Vuillard, K.-X. Roussel (Paris: Réunion des Musées nationaux, 1968), pp. 69, 145, cat. no. 14. Alfred Natanson used the pseudonym Alfred Athis for his playwright career. 
    2 According to a bill of sale in the curatorial file.
  • Georgel, Pierre. Édouard Vuillard, K.-X. Roussel. Haus der Kunst, Munich, 16 mars-12 mai 1968. Orangerie des Tuileries, 28 mai-16 septembre 1968. Paris, France: Réunion des Musées nationaux, 1968. Mentioned: P. 69; Reproduced: P. 145, no. 14
    Salomon, Antoine, Guy Cogeval, and Mathias Chivot. Vuillard, the Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels. Milan, Italy: Skira, 2003. Mentioned and Reproduced: Vol. I, P. 281, no. IV-98
    Salsbury, Britany. Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023. Reproduced: p. 171
  • Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 8, 2023-January 14, 2024).
    Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    Edouard Vuillard, K-X Roussel. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (March 16-May 12, 1968); Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (May 28-September 16, 1968).
    Édouard Vuillard. Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (1966).
    Édouard Vuillard. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, France (1960-1961).
  • {{cite web|title=Woman Ironing|url=false|author=Édouard Vuillard|year=1892|access-date=30 October 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.119