The Washerwomen (Les laveuses), created around 1889, is a significant lithograph attributed to the collaboration of Paul Gauguin and the influential art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard. This print exemplifies Gauguin’s early explorations into graphic media, created before his deep commitment to woodcuts later in the 1890s. The specific technique involves a lithograph executed on zinc, printed onto delicate imitation Japan paper. This combination lends the image a distinctive textural quality and the deep, absorbing tonal richness characteristic of the experimental graphic arts preferred during the late 19th century.
While the subject matter of rustic figures, specifically washerwomen, was common in French art during the prolific period spanning 1876 to 1900, Gauguin treats the rural scene with a proto-Symbolist simplicity, moving decisively away from Impressionistic realism. This work reflects the artist’s growing desire to flatten perspective and simplify form, foreshadowing his subsequent dedication to synthesizing color, line, and emotion. The strong outlines and deliberately simplified figures utilized in this piece demonstrate Gauguin's necessary transition away from naturalism and toward the groundbreaking stylistic achievements he would realize in Pont-Aven and Tahiti.
Vollard, known for aggressively championing Modernist artists, played a crucial role in disseminating these early prints, helping solidify Gauguin’s reputation among collectors and critics. The collaborative nature of these graphic works offers important insight into the evolution of Gauguin’s formal language during a pivotal moment in his career. This particular example of French graphic arts resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. As the National Gallery of Art is dedicated to open access principles, high-resolution images of such masterpieces are frequently made available to the public domain, allowing students and enthusiasts worldwide to study the joint contribution of Vollard and Gauguin to Post-Impressionist prints.
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