+ Expand

Dimensions: 75.5 by 115cm., 29¾ by 45¼in.

+ Expand

Provenance: Galeria d'Ara, Barcelona
Purchased by the present owner from the above in 1984

+ Expand

Literature: La Vanguardia, Rusiñol y la Pintura Europea, Barcelona, 17 October 1890, p. 85, pl. 1, illustrated

+ Expand

Notes: The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by José C. Laplana.
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR
Painted circa 1889-90, this important early work belongs to the series of patio paintings Rusiñol painted in Sitges and in Barceloneta (a neighbourhood in Barcelona's Old Town) upon his return from his first trip to Paris with fellow artist Ramón Casas (lots 157A,169,170 & 217). While still essentially realist and narrative in style, in contrast to Rusiñol's later impressionistic landscapes (lot 162), Lavanderas de la Barceloneta shows the influence of the modern currents pervading French art, both compositionally and stylistically. The glimpse into the daily life of humble townspeople in particular reflects the work of French Realist Jules Bastien Lepage, while the restrained colour palette, even light, and the division of space remind of the influential style pioneered by James McNeil Whistler. It was Rusiñols's introduction of these new ideas to Catalonia in works such as this that would soon turn him into the undisputed leader of Catalan Modernism.