Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Romance of Laundry?


My favorite laundry painting: Wash Day, A Back Yard Reminiscence of Brooklyn by William Merritt Chase, 1886.

Artists have been captivated by women doing the washing just as they found the subject of a woman ironing fascinating.


A very romantic vision by Auguste Renoir.



A focus on work: Sheet with Two Women Doing Laundry by Vincent van Gogh


Wash Day by Martha Walter, a member of the Pennsylvania Impressionist School


Washerwoman by Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, 1733


Peasant Hanging out the Wash by Berthe Morisot, 1881

The laundry landscape:


Hanging Out the Laundry by Berthe Morisot, 1875


Andrew Wyeth's ode to washday: Monday Morning, 1955

The world's most famous laundress:

Mrs. Tiggy Winkle by artist, naturalist, farmer, and storyteller Beatrix Potter

2 comments:

Nan said...

I so love Mrs. TW! All I could think of in the first picture is they don't have dogs! I do love doing laundry but I have it so easy compared to older days. Rather a dilettante laundress am I. :<)

Bonnie said...

I love all of these and laundry!
I found you from Nan...in New Hampshire. You won the Irish book.
Hope you have read Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work by Kathleen Norris.
Lovely blog.