A Wash House 1900

Emilie Christensen made this painting of a wash house in Denmark, sometime around 1900. It’s an intimate glimpse into the daily lives of working-class women. The somber tones and the depiction of manual labor connect to broader themes of social realism in art at the turn of the century. Christensen’s choice of subject matter reflects a growing interest in depicting the lives of ordinary people. It also comments on the social structures of her time. We see women engaged in a task that was essential but often overlooked. What’s more, the institutional art world of 19th-century Europe often excluded women artists, and the kind of labor they were involved in. Christensen challenges this exclusion by bringing it into the frame of art. To understand this painting better, we might look into census records or conduct oral history. These can shed light on the experiences of women in Denmark. Art is always contingent on its social context, and our job as historians is to illuminate those connections.