Artwork
Hanging the Laundry out to Dry
Hanging the Laundry out to Dry is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot. It dates from 1875 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: Berthe Morisot
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition situates a modest domestic scene within a natural outdoor space, reflecting the Impressionist interest in everyday environments.
Berthe Morisot's 1875 oil on canvas Hanging the Laundry out to Dry is categorized as a landscape painting and, according to the National Gallery of Art's records, portrays a house set against a tree. The composition situates a modest domestic scene within a natural outdoor space, reflecting the Impressionist interest in everyday environments. No specific iconographic symbols or narrative meaning are detailed in the available documentation, which simply identifies the depicted elements as a house and a tree.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas in 1875, the work employs a fluid handling characteristic of Morisot's plein-air practice, with loose, open brushwork that merges figure and ground. The composition is structured by a gently sloping foreground leading to a central house and tree, rendered with light, luminous tonalities. The 33 × 40.6 cm format and horizontal orientation support an expansive, low-lying view of domestic labor against a suburban landscape.
History & Provenance
The work was painted by Berthe Morisot in 1875. It was acquired the following year, in 1876, by Dr. Georges de Bellio (1828–1894) in Paris, a noted early supporter of the Impressionists. After de Bellio's death in 1894 it passed by inheritance to his daughter, Mme Ernest Donop de Monchy (née Victorine de Bellio, 1863–1958).
It was later handled by the dealer Paul Rosenberg & Co., from whom Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, purchased it in 1950. Mellon gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1985, where it remains.
The painting has been featured in the exhibition Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting.
Overview
Berthe Morisot's Hanging the Laundry out to Dry, painted in 1875, is an oil on canvas work characteristic of the Impressionist movement. This painting captures a quiet, everyday outdoor scene. It features a woman engaged in a domestic task, set against the backdrop of a house and a prominent tree, reflecting the artist's interest in contemporary life.
Context
Berthe Morisot was a pivotal figure within the Parisian Impressionist circle. Before joining the first independent Impressionist exhibition in 1874 alongside artists like Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, she had exhibited at the official Salon. Her participation in these groundbreaking shows solidified her role as a key proponent of the movement, which sought to capture modern life and fleeting visual impressions.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot was a French painter, printmaker and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists.
