Laundry On The River, C1860 French Barbizon Landscape Painting

An interesting French Barbizon school painting, dating from the third quarter of the 19th Century. Washerwomen doing laundry on the river: the scene is likely the River Loing, and the surrounding Fontainebleau forest.

The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. It was active roughly from 1830 through 1870 and takes its name from the village of Barbizon, on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau, where many of the artists gathered. Most of their works were landscape painting, but several also painted landscapes with farmworkers, and genre scenes of village life. Spearhead figures of the Barbizon movement were notably Jean Francois Millet and Theodore Rousseau.

The oil on canvas has been relined and restored which is  perceivable under a UV lamp. There is some wear, and repair to the canvas in two spots is faintly visible, but the painting presents well. Measuring 44 x 54 cm, the overall framed size in a more recent frame is 50 x 60 cm.