Laundry Girls Ironing, c.1884/86 Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

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We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

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We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
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Once the painting Laundry Girls Ironing is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

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The painting captures a moment of mundane yet compelling reality, focusing on two women absorbed in the daily routines of a modest laundry. At left, one woman appears to be letting out a wide yawn, her arm stretched back in a moment of unguarded fatigue. Her companion stands to her right, pressing down on an iron with determined force, as though all the day’s weight rests on her shoulders. The presence of a bottle on the table, along with the rumpled fabric, underscores the unvarnished nature of their world - work performed without glamour or reprieve.

The color palette is a subtle interplay of earth tones and pastel shades that come alive against the coarse canvas. Hints of pinks, oranges, and blues are applied in such a way that they appear to vibrate, especially where the raw linen peeks through Degas’s brushstrokes. Rather than opting for polished, glossy finishes, the artist employs a subdued luminosity, illuminating these laborers with a light both tender and unsentimental. This nuanced approach invites the viewer to explore the texture and density of the paint, rather than simply glossing over the scene.

Degas has laid his pigments directly on unprepared brown linen, capitalizing on its grainy surface to animate the figures. The rough texture not only strengthens the sense of depth but also echoes the harsh reality of the subject matter. Thin, almost sketch-like applications of paint coexist with passages of heavier layering, creating a tension between spontaneity and careful observation. This duality - fleeting gesture juxtaposed with precise documentation - infuses the scene with a quiet urgency.

Compositionally, the viewer’s attention drifts from the yawning woman’s open mouth and bright collar, across the tabletop, and settles on the second figure’s bent form. By arranging the two workers side by side, Degas creates a dialogue of shapes that illustrate their shared fatigue: one in an almost abstracted moment of rest, the other in the midst of unyielding labor. This contrast balances the canvas, offering a glimpse of everyday gestures that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

Rooted in the naturalist spirit of the late 19th century, the painting resonates with wider social and literary concerns, most notably those chronicled by authors such as Zola. Degas offers neither heroic tributes nor exaggerated caricatures, instead capturing simple human gestures shaped by the relentless demands of work. The theme - and Degas’s handling of it - would later influence younger artists, including Picasso, who found in these scenes of laundry and labor a raw and sympathetic reflection of modern life.