The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

The Laundress

The Laundress

1888
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

To create this drawing, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painted a board white and then both scraped the material away in areas and drew with black ink to create a variety of tones throughout the image.

Description

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec produced this drawing to illustrate an article about Parisian summers. It presents the type of poorly paid worker who remained in the city while others traveled to escape the urban heat. Because the image was to be reproduced in black and white, Toulouse-Lautrec thinned and brushed ink, scraping into it to expose fine white highlights. Like several artworks in Cleveland’s collection, the drawing was formerly owned by Roger Marx, a French collector, curator, and art critic who built perhaps the most substantial holdings of Toulouse-Lautrec’s work around the turn of the century.
  • ?-1914
    Roger Marx [1859–1913], Paris
    1914
    (his sale, Galerie Manzi-Joyant, Paris, May 11–12, 1914, no. 222, sold to Simon Oppenheimer)
    After 1914
    (Simon Oppenheimer, Germany, sold to Otto Gerstenberg, Berlin)
    1914-1935
    Otto Gerstenberg [1848–1935], Berlin, by descent to Margarethe Scharf, Berlin
    1935-1936
    Margarethe Scharf [1889–1961], Berlin
    1936-1950
    Deposited in Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
    1951-1952
    (Jean-Pierre Durand-Matthiesen, Geneva)
    1952
    (M. Knoedler & Co., New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1952-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Michelet, Émile. “L’Été à Paris.” Paris illustré 6 (1888). Reproduced: p. 425
    Catalogue des tableaux, pastels, dessins, aquarelles [. . .] faisant partie de la collection Roger Marx. Paris: Galerie Manzi-Joyant, 1914. Mentioned: p. 105, no. 222; Reproduced: n.p. 22422
    Astre, Achille. H. de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris: Nilsson, 1926. Mentioned: p. 96
    Joyant, Maurice. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1964–1901: Dessins, estampes, affiches. Paris: H. Floury, 1927. Mentioned: pp. 191, 279; Reproduced: p. 17
    Mack, Gerstle. Toulouse-Lautrec. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938. Mentioned: p. 293
    Francis, Henry S. "La Blanchisseuse by Toulouse-Lautrec." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 40, no. 3 (March 1953): 51-53. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 51-53
    Neugass, Fritz. "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec und der Kunstmarkt." Weltkunst 34 (March 1953): 139. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 139
    Toulouse-Lautrec: Exhibition Organized in Collaboration with the Albi Museum. Exh. cat. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1955. Reproduced: no. 85
    Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings, Drawings, Posters and Lithographs. Exh. cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1956. Mentioned: p. 46, no. 51
    Perruchot, Henri. La vie de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris: Hachette, 1958. Mentioned: p. 139
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 605 archive.org
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned: no. 108
    Julien, Edouard, and Henri Focillon. Dessins de Toulouse-Lautrec. Lausanne: Mermod, 1959. Mentioned: p. 68, under no. 17
    Collection M. L.: Ensemble exceptionnel d'estampes originales, livres illustrés, important dessin aux crayons de couleur de Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris: Galerie Charpentier, 1959. Mentioned: under no. 257
    A Generation of Draughtsmen. Exh. cat. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1962. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 156, pl. XIIc (ill.)
    Negri, Renata. Toulouse-Lautrec, I maestri del colore. Milan: Fabbri, 1964. Reproduced: fig. 4
    Huisman, Philippe and M. G. Dortu. Lautrec by Lautrec. New York: Galahad, 1964. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 253
    Toulouse-Lautrec. Exh. cat. New York: Wildenstein, 1964. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 64
    Neugass, Fritz. “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec und der Kunstmarkt.” Weltkunst 34, no. 5 (March 1, 1964). Reproduced: p. 139
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 179 archive.org
    Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901. Exh. cat. Vienna: Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, 1966. Mentioned: p. 66, no. 39
    Novotny, Fritz. Toulouse-Lautrec. Translated by Michael Glenney. London: Phaidon, 1969. Mentioned: p. 184, no. 15; Reproduced: plate 15
    Sugana, G. M. The Complete Paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1969. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 101, no. 223
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 179 archive.org
    Dortu, M. G. Toulouse-Lautrec et son œuvre. New York: Collectors Editions, 1971. Mentioned: vol. 5, p. 492, no. D3.029; Reproduced: p. 493
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 222 archive.org
    Thomson, Richard. Toulouse-Lautrec. London: Universal Books, 1980. Mentioned: p. 46
    Welsh-Ovcharov, Bogomila. Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Exh. cat. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1981. Mentioned: p. 336; Reproduced: p. 337
    Cooper, Douglas. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. New York: Abrams, 1982. Reproduced: p. 27
    Adriani, Götz. Toulouse-Lautrec. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987. Mentioned: p. 76
    Sonn, Richard D. Anarchism and Cultural Politics in Fin de Siècle France. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989. Mentioned: pp. 156, pp. 322-23; Reproduced: p. 157
    Schimmel, Herbert. The Letters of Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Mentioned: p. 126, under nos. 163 and 164
    Julien, Édouard. Toulouse-Lautrec. New York: Flammarion, 1991. Reproduced: p. 84
    Toulouse-Lautrec, 198 (ill.). Exh. cat. London: Hayward Gallery, 1991. Reproduced: p. 198
    Murray, Gale B. Toulouse-Lautrec: The Formative Years, 1878–1891. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. Mentioned: pp. xvii, 167-70, 249; Reproduced: p. 168
    Murray, Gale B. Toulouse-Lautrec: A Retrospective. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin, 1992. Mentioned: p. 102; Reproduced: p. 103
    Frey, Julia Bloch. Toulouse-Lautrec: A Life. London: Phoenix, 1994. Mentioned: pp. 245-46
    Mendelowitz, Daniel M., and Duane A. Wakeham. A Guide to Drawing. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 2000. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 37
    DeGrazia, Diane and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 140-141, p. 291, no. 56; Reproduced: p. 141
    Old Master, Modern & Contemporary Prints. London: Sotheby's, 2001. Mentioned: p. 130, under no. 262
    Scharf, Julietta, and Hanna Strzoda. Die Historische Sammlung Otto Gerstenberg. Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2012. Mentioned and reproduced: vol. 2, p. 221, no. 1366
    Prat, Louis-Antoine. “L’Enfer des Juliette.” In Toulouse-Lautrec: Résolument moderne, edited by Stéphane Guégan. Exh. cat. Paris: Musée d’Orsay, 2019. Mentioned: p. 287
    Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de, Edgar Degas, and Florence Saragoza. Quand Toulouse-Lautrec regarde Degas. Albi : Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 61-62, fig. 32
    Salsbury, Britany. Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023. Reproduced: p. 126, no.19
  • Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 8, 2023-January 14, 2024).
    Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-April 30, 2023).
    Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in Nineteenth-Century Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 20, 2013).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1982-January 9, 1983).
    Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (organizer) (January 24-March 22, 1981); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (April 9-June 14, 1981).
    Seventeenth-, Eighteenth-, and Early Nineteenth-Century Genre and French Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 31-August 19, 1979).
    Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901. Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna (June–July 1966).
    Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. MAK, the Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst/Gegenwartskunst, Vienna, Austria (June 2-July 31, 1966).
    Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864-1901. MAK, the Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst/Gegenwartskunst, Vienna, Austria (organizer).
    French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1965-February 16, 1966).
    19th and 20th Century Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 19-March 24, 1965).
    Toulouse-Lautrec. Wildenstein & Co., New York, NY (February 7-March 14, 1964).
    Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963).
    A Generation of Draughtsmen. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (organizer) (April 25-May 29, 1962).
    French Drawings of the 1800's. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (organizer) (April 22-May 29, 1962).
    Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).
    Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).
    Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings, Drawings, Posters and Lithographs. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (organizer) (March 20-May 6, 1956).
    Toulouse-Lautrec: Exhibition Organized in Collaboration with the Albi Museum. Philadelphia Museum of Art (organizer) (October 29-December 11, 1955); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (January 2-February 15, 1956).
  • {{cite web|title=The Laundress|url=false|author=Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec|year=1888|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.113