Washerwomen

Washerwomen (1768), at the Metropolitan Museum, is one of Boucher's final paintings, depicting laundresses at work in a rustic landscape. Even this mundane subject is transformed by Boucher's decorative vision into a scene of pastoral charm, the working women presented with the same idealized beauty he brought to goddesses and nymphs. The painting demonstrates Boucher's unwavering commitment to his decorative aesthetic even in his final years, when changing tastes were turning against the Rococo pleasure principle he embodied.

The painting combines Boucher's decorative palette with slightly more naturalistic figure treatment than his earlier mythological works. The water and landscape are handled with characteristic Rococo softness, while the figures show greater attention to realistic gesture.