Washerwomen on the Banks of the Durance

Paul Guigou (1834-1871) was a French painter known for the luminous, precisely observed landscapes of Provence that make him one of the most important predecessors of the Provençal landscape tradition. Washerwomen on the Banks of the Durance from 1866 depicts washerwomen on the banks of the Durance river in Provence in the luminous, precisely observed manner that distinguishes Guigou's best work from the more atmospheric landscape painting of his Barbizon contemporaries. The 1866 date places this in Guigou's most productive period, before his premature death at 37, and the Provençal subject shows his talent for depicting the luminous landscape of the Midi.

Washerwomen on the Banks of the Durance is important in the history of French landscape painting because it demonstrates the luminous, precisely observed manner that Guigou brought to Provençal landscape as one of the most important predecessors of the Provençal landscape tradition. Guigou's Provençal landscapes—combining luminous color with precise observation of the Midi—represent an important alternative to the atmospheric Barbizon tradition, and the 1866 painting shows this alternative at its most luminous.

Washerwomen on the Banks of the Durance is Guigou's luminous Provençal landscape: washerwomen on the Durance river rendered in the precisely observed, luminous manner of one of the most important predecessors of the Provençal landscape tradition. The 1866 painting shows an alternative to the Barbizon tradition—luminous Provençal color combined with precise observation.