Artwork
Woman Ironing
Woman Ironing is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Édouard Vuillard. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Classified as a genre scene, the work focuses on an ordinary figure performing a mundane task, representing the everyday life of the working class in France.
Created in 1896, this oil painting on cardboard by Édouard Vuillard depicts a washerwoman engaged in the domestic labor of ironing. Classified as a genre scene, the work focuses on an ordinary figure performing a mundane task, representing the everyday life of the working class in France. The subject matter centers entirely on the solitary female figure absorbed in her work, highlighting the routine nature of household maintenance.
By elevating a common laborer to the subject of fine art, the piece serves as a document of late nineteenth-century domestic reality, capturing the quiet dignity of manual work without overt allegorical embellishment.
Technique & Style
Woman Ironing is an oil paint on cardboard genre painting dated 1896. The support is a piece of cardboard, onto which Vuillard applied oil paint in a relatively thin, fluid handling typical of his small-scale works of the period. The composition presents a washerwoman engaged in her task, rendered with simplified forms and a muted palette characteristic of Vuillard's intimate interior scenes.
As a genre scene, the work emphasizes everyday domestic activity, and its modest dimensions (20.3 × 25.4 cm) reflect the artist's focus on private, contemplative subjects. Details of the painting's current condition or specific technical procedures are not recorded in the provided sources.
History & Provenance
Édouard Vuillard created the painting Woman Ironing in 1896 during his time in France. Executed in oil paint on cardboard, the work depicts a washerwoman and measures 20.3 by 25.4 centimeters. The specific commission history and the detailed chain of ownership prior to its current location are not documented in the provided sources.
However, the artwork is currently held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland. The piece is classified as a genre scene within the artist's oeuvre from the 1890s.
Édouard Vuillard's 1896 oil painting Woman Ironing is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, located in Cleveland, Ohio. The work, executed on cardboard, depicts a washerwoman and measures 20.3 by 25.4 centimeters. While the sources confirm the artwork's current institutional home and its creation in France during 1896, they do not provide a specific inventory or accession number, nor do they list any past or present exhibitions in which the piece has been displayed.
Context
Édouard Vuillard's 1896 oil on cardboard titled Woman Ironing portrays a domestic washerwoman engaged in labor, a subject that reflects the everyday activities of the French household. The work is classified as a genre scene and exemplifies Vuillard's interest in interior domestic spaces, a recurring theme in his oeuvre. Held in the Cleveland Museum of Art, the painting was created in France and measures 20.3 × 25.4 cm. Its composition and flattened decorative patterning align with late‑19th‑century French painting practices, situating it within the broader trajectory of genre painting and post‑impressionist exploration of everyday life.
Legacy
Vuillard's 1896 painting of a washerwoman, housed in the Cleveland Museum of Art, is referenced in discussions of French genre painting from the late 19th century. Its presence in a prominent museum collection has helped sustain scholarly interest in Vuillard's exploration of domestic labor and interior space. The work's flattened perspective and delicate handling of light on cardboard are cited in studies of modernist composition, underscoring its place between traditional realism and emerging avant‑garde approaches.
Overview
Édouard Vuillard's 1896 oil painting, Woman Ironing, captures a domestic moment with a washerwoman engaged in her task. This work exemplifies the artist's focus on intimate interior scenes, a recurring theme in his oeuvre. Rendered with a distinctive post-impressionist approach, the piece is part of the collection at The Cleveland Museum of Art, offering insight into late 19th-century French genre painting.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Édouard Vuillard (French:; 11 November 1868 – 21 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker.
