Laundress and Her Child (Aline and Pierre) (c. 1886): Art, History and Details

Laundress and Her Child (Aline and Pierre) (c. 1886) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In this idealization of motherhood and rural life, Auguste Renoir depicted his future wife, Aline Charigot, with their son Pierre. Bright colors, including warm orange and yellow, are contrasted with cool blues and greens to create a dramatic impact. Renoir took full advantage of pastel’s unique optical properties, in which minute, irregular particles diffusely reflect light, allowing for an unparalleled velvety brilliance that is perfectly suited to portray the youthful bloom of the woman and child.

Object facts

• Title: Laundress and Her Child (Aline and Pierre)
• Date: c. 1886
• Creator attribution: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: pastel on brown paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 81.5 x 65 cm (32 1/16 x 25 9/16 in.); Mounted: 82.6 x 65.9 cm (32 1/2 x 25 15/16 in.); Framed: 99 x 82.5 x 4.2 cm (39 x 32 1/2 x 1 5/8 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1977.167

A detail from the museum

Auguste Renoir also realized this composition as a painting in oil on canvas which is in the collection of the Barnes Foundation today.

Collection credit

Bequest of Alexander Ginn

Further reading listed by the museum

• André, Albert. Renoir. Paris: G. Crès and Cie., 1928.
• “Lists of Objects in the Exhibition.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 16, no. 9 (1929): 159–75.
• Florisoone, Michel. Renoir. Translated by George Frederic Lees. Paris: Hyperion, 1938.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.