Washerwomen Descending a Quai Staircase

1888

Washerwomen Descending a Quai Staircase, 1888. Alexandre Lunois (French, 1863–1916), after Honoré Daumier (French, 1808–1879). Transfer lithograph; image: 57.1 x 41.8 cm (22 1/2 x 16 7/16 in.); sheet: 64.7 x 49 cm (25 1/2 x 19 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Carole W. and Charles B. Rosenblatt Endowment Fund 2021.141 Alexandre Lunois worked extensively in lithography, a relatively recent invention during his time that was rarely used by artists, making both reproductive and original works. This print reinterprets Honoré Daumier’s Washerwomen of the Quai d’Anjou, an 1850 canvas depicting laundresses carrying heavy bundles on a staircase adjacent to Paris’s Seine River. Although Lunois worked closely from Daumier’s painting, he reinterpreted some details, such as the shadows on the woman’s face, emphasizing the strenuousness of her labor. An impression of this print was selected for display at the prestigious annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Français in 1888.