The Laundress (La blanchisseuse)
1896
Medium
color lithograph on china paper
Dimensions
overall: 29.5 x 19.7 cm (11 5/8 x 7 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Virginia and Ira Jackson Collection
Accession Number
1999.138.4
Art Historical Context
Pierre Bonnard's *The LaundressLa blanchisseuse)* created in 1896, captures an intimate glimpse of everyday life through the lens of a master of Post-Impressionism and the Nabi movement. At just 29.5 x 19.7 cm, this color lithograph on delicate china paper showcases Bonnard's early mastery of printmaking, a medium he embraced to explore vibrant hues and flattened forms inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e prints. The laundress, a humble figure of urban toil, embodies the Nabis' fascination with modern domesticity and the beauty in ordinary moments, reflecting late 19th-century Paris where working wome...
About the Artist
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) was a French painter and printmaker who became a leading figure in the Post-Impressionist movement and a founding member of Les Nabis. Born on October 3, 1867, in Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, Bonnard initially studied law at his father's insistence, graduating and briefly practicing as a barrister in 1888. However, his true passion lay in art, and he had simultaneously at...