Laundresses were famously the subject of Honoré Daumier, who was given a large exhibition in Paris in 1901. They were also painted by Edgar Degas, although very few of his works were displayed publicly in Paris at the turn of the century. Daumier's lithographs were passed around the studios of Barcelona, as were the few illustrated books on Degas's work.
Picasso's laundress is much more abject than those of either of his French antecedents; the bleak mood of the painting recalls that found in the work of the Catalan painter Isidre Nonell. Picasso gave this painting to his friend Jaime Sabartés, a poet. Alfred Stieglitz, the New York photographer and art dealer, bought it in 1912.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Inscription: Signed and inscribed (etched into surface in dark blue paint, upper right): a jacobus / sabartes / - Picasso -
Jaime Sabartés, Barcelona (1901–12; gift of the artist; sold in 1912 to Stieglitz); Alfred Stieglitz, New York (1912–d. 1946; his estate, 1946–49; gift to MMA)
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "History of an American, Alfred Stieglitz: '291' and After, Selections from the Stieglitz Collection," July 1–November 1, 1944, no. 89.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Alfred Stieglitz Exhibition: His Collection," June 10–August 31, 1947, no catalogue (checklist no. 89; as "Girl Ironing").
Art Institute of Chicago. "Alfred Stieglitz: His Photographs and His Collection," February 2–29, 1948, no catalogue.
Nashville. Fisk University. "36th Annual Festival of Music and Art: One Hundred Years of European Painting," April 28–May 2, 1965 (extended to June 10, 1965), unnumbered cat. (as "Girl Ironing").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design," December 14, 1983–September 2, 1984, unnum. checklist (installed in galleries of Costume Institute exhibition).
Kunstmuseum Bern. "Der Junge Picasso: Frühwerk und Blaue Periode," December 6, 1984–February 17, 1985, no. 142 (As "Die Büglerin").
Charleroi. Palais des Beaux-Arts. "Picasso, Miró, Dalí: Évocations d'Espagne," September 24–December 22, 1985, no. 19.
Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 161.
Paris. Musée Picasso. "Picasso 1901–1909: Chefs d'oeuvre du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," October 21, 1998–January 25, 1999, unnumbered cat. (fig. 30).
Portland, Me. Portland Museum of Art. "Picasso's Human Vision," May 29–September 6, 1999, no catalogue (checklist no. 1).
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí," October 15, 2006–January 7, 2007, no. 4:13.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Barcelona and Modernity: Gaudí to Dalí," March 7–June 3, 2007, no. 4:13.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 27–August 1, 2010, no. 18.
Florence. Palazzo Strozzi. "Picasso, Miró, Dalí. Angry Young Men: The Birth of Modernity," March 12–July 17, 2011, no. 4.6.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe," October 13, 2011–January 2, 2012, no. 22.
Musée Fabre de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. "Picasso. Donner à voir," June 14–September 23, 2018, no. 10 (as "Femme repassant").
Canberra. National Gallery of Australia. "Matisse & Picasso," December 13, 2019–April 13, 2020, unnumbered cat. (p. 40, as "Woman ironing [Femme repassant]").
Toronto. Art Gallery of Ontario. "Picasso: Painting the Blue Period," October 6, 2021–January 4, 2022, unnumbered cat. (p. 153; as "Woman Ironing [La Repasseuse]").
Washington. Phillips Collection. "Picasso: Painting the Blue Period," February 26–June 12, 2022, unnumbered cat.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism," October 8, 2023–January 14, 2024, unnumbered cat. (pl. 37).
Jaime Sabartés. Picasso: Retratos y recuerdos. Madrid, 1953, pp. 113, 250–51, pl. 13.
Frank Elgar and Robert Maillard. Picasso: Étude de l'oeuvre. Paris, 1955, p. 264, ill.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, pp. 229–30.
Pierre Daix and Georges Boudaille. Picasso: The Blue and Rose Periods: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, 1900–1906. Greenwich, Conn., 1967, p. 202, no. VI.27, ill.
Paolo Lecaldano. L'opera completa di Picasso blu e rosa. Milan, 1968, p. 88, no. 13, ill.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 21, Supplément aux anneés 1892-1902. Paris, 1969, p. 100, no. 263, ill.
George Heard Hamilton. "The Alfred Stieglitz Collection." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), p. 379.
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: The Early Years, 1881–1907. New York, 1981, pp. 275, 536, no. 692, ill.
Laszlo Glozer. Picasso: Les Chefs–d'oeuvre de la Pèriode bleue, 38 tableaux. Munich, 1988, p. 19, pl. II.
John Richardson with the collaboration of Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. Vol. 1, 1881–1906. New York, 1991, p. 222, ill.
Denys Chevalier. Picasso: The Blue and Rose Periods. New York, 1991, p. 53, ill.
Pierre Daix. Dictionnaire Picasso. Paris, 1995, pp. 393, 566, 686, 783.
Octavi Marti. "Paris exhibe los inquietos Picassos de la juventud viajera del pintor." El País (November 2, 1998), p. 39.
Meyer Schapiro. The Unity of Picasso's Art. New York, 2000, pp. 11, 187, fig. 14.
Julia May Boddewyn in Michael FitzGerald. Picasso and American Art. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2006, pp. 359, 362.
José Luis Diez inPicasso: Tradition and Avant-Garde. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2006, pp. 84, 87, fig. 2.1.
Anna Reuter inSpanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso. Ed. Carmen Giménez and Francisco Calvo Serraller. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 2006, p. 226.
Ariella Budick. "In Pursuit of the Chameleon." Financial Times. April 30, 2010.
Bobbie Leigh. "Picasso Revealed and Revered at the Met." Luxist. April 21, 2010.
Jerry Saltz. "Jerry Saltz Takes You through the Met's Massive Picasso Show." New York Magazine Online. May 4, 2010, video.
Magdalena Dabrowski inPicasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow and Susan Alyson Stein. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2010, pp. 49–51, no. 18, ill. (color).
Shawn Digney-Peer inPicasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow and Susan Alyson Stein. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2010, p. 50, fig. 18.2 (X-radiograph, detail).
Lisa Mintz Messinger inStieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Lisa Mintz Messinger. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2011, pp. 52, 248, no. 22, ill. (color).
Stanislas Colodiet inPicasso. Donner à voir. Ed. Michel Hilaire and Stanislas Colodiet. Exh. cat., Musée Fabre de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. Montpellier, 2018, pp. 125, 346, no. 10, ill. p. 131 (color).
Jane Kinsman in Jane Kinsman with Simeran Maxwell. Matisse Picasso. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Australia. Canberra, 2019, pp. 41, 184, ill. p. 40 (color).
Susan Behrends Frank inPicasso: Painting the Blue Period. Ed. Kenneth Brummel and Susan Behrends Frank. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Ontario, 2021, pp. 303, 317 n. 55, p. 323, ill. p. 153 (color).
Britany Salsbury. Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, 2023, pp. 15, 143, 204, colorpl. 37 and ill. p. 141 (color, detail).
Richard Thomson in Britany Salsbury. Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, 2023, p. 43.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1921
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
