“The Burden (The Laundress),” painted by Honore Daumier between 1850 and 1853, is a genre painting representative of the Realism art movement. The artwork, rendered in oil on canvas, measures 130 x 98 cm and is housed in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The artwork prominently features a laundress, burdened by the heavy load she carries on her back, with a small child walking closely beside her. The scene is enveloped in a somber palette, dominated by dark and muted tones, which effectively conveys the hardship and toil of the laundress’s daily life. The strained posture of the woman, bent under the weight, alongside the child, who seems equally weighed down by the circumstances, evokes a powerful empathy for the struggles of the working class. Daumier’s deft brushwork and attention to the physical exertion and the melancholic atmosphere bear testimony to his mastery in depicting societal realities.
