Master Art

In 1819 Nash began a number of views of Paris which were subsequently purchased by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Some were engraved for Picturesque Views of the City of Paris and its Environs, published in two volumes in 1823, with texts by John Scott and M.P.B de la Boissiére. The present watercolour is close to the plate entitled The Tuileries and Pont Royal, which is accompanied by a text headed 'Pont Royal and the Louvre' (in the first volume, no page numbers). The washerwomen are charmingly referred to in the commentary as women with 'laughing eyes', with 'flapping white caps, richly coloured handkerchiefs, and bare fleshy arms... dragging and dabbling their linen in the Seine'.

Another version of this watercolour, of almost identical size is in the collection of ING Barings (see John Orbell and Jane Waller, The Art of ING Barings, 2000, p.52.)