The Laundresses (Les blanchisseuses (La repassage))

Edgar Degas

1880

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Interior

About this work

This sketch shows three women in a dim, cluttered room. One sits at a table ironing, her posture hunched. The others crouch nearby, maybe folding clothes. The walls are plain, and light slants in through a small window, making shadows stretch long. The lines are scratchy and layered, like the artist pressed hard into the plate. This isn’t smooth—it’s rough, almost like scribbles, but controlled. The focus is on their work, not their faces. Try looking up etching to see how artists use acid and ink to create these textures.