Who painted Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses?

Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses was painted by Honoré Daumier in 1857.

Where can I see Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses?

Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses?

Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses is associated with Impressionism.

Can I buy a print of Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses?

Museum-quality prints of Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses

Honoré Daumier , 1857

Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1857 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Honoré Daumée r’s lithograph *Le nouvel étendard des blanchisseuses* captures a bustling street celebration. A procession of women draped in voluminous, multicolored skirts moves through a crowded thoroughfare, while a man in a tall, pointed hat peers down from a balcony above. The composition conveys a moment of lively urban disorder, rendered in the crisp, graphic quality of the print medium.

Subject & Meaning

The work stages a mock‑parade of laundry workers, their skirts exaggerated to resemble piles of freshly washed linen. By juxtaposing domestic labor with a festive march, Daumier injects a satirical comment on the visibility of working‑class women in Parisian life, turning a routine occupation into a theatrical spectacle that both amuses and critiques.

Technique & Style

Executed as a lithograph, the image relies on bold, decisive lines that delineate the swirling skirts and blurred crowd. Daumier’s handling of light and shadow suggests an impressionistic urban backdrop, while the rapid, gestural strokes convey movement. The print’s stark contrasts and simplified forms enhance the humorous, almost caricatural tone of the scene.

Context

Created during Daumier’s prolific period of social commentary, the lithograph reflects the artist’s fascination with Paris’s public spaces and everyday people. While not tied to a specific event, the piece resonates with mid‑19th‑century debates about labor, gender roles, and the spectacle of street life that populated contemporary newspapers and caricatures.

Own this work as a print

Artist & collection

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Honoré-Victorin Daumier was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870.