Gust of wind

Description of the artwork

Presented out of competition at the 1896 Salon, this painting is typical of the painter's period. Thérèse is hanging out her wind-beaten washing, which her daughters Jacqueline and Georgette are taking out of a basin to dry in the fresh air. Surprisingly, the engraving of the painting reproduced in the Salon catalog shows an older woman leaning over the basin. This silhouette was later erased by the artist once he had returned home. He probably wanted to preserve the intimacy of this scene, and find his family on the canvas without any foreign presence. Always in the painter's family, this painting has been preserved by his daughter Jacqueline, along with other magnificent studies, sketchbooks and paintings by both her parents.
Apart from very rare paintings, Moreau de Tours always depicted his figures with oblique, distant gazes, or in profile. We find this characteristic in our painting. The spectacular format of this canvas also makes it a remarkable work. After suffering a stroke in 1893, the painter expressed himself in smaller formats, with vivid, colorful brushstrokes in a very Impressionist style. Along with Dilettanti, this is his last submission to the Salon. A naturalist painting, sincere and majestic, like an ode to his muse and wife Thérèse, who also exhibited her painting Pour le dîner at the same 1896 Salon.

Origin

Studio of Moreau de Tours
Estate Moreau de Tours, 1921
Former collection of Jacqueline Moreau de Tours

Literature

Reproduced p.90 in the catalogue of the 1896 Salon