The Linen Shop 1925

Editor: This is "The Linen Shop" by Jean Émile Laboureur, currently at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a very delicate etching, almost like a quick sketch. What do you make of this intimate scene? Curator: I see a commentary on the changing social roles in the domestic sphere. Linen shops, historically spaces of female labor, were also sites of social exchange. Editor: Social exchange, how so? Curator: They were places where women connected, sharing news and gossip, which reinforced their social bonds, and operated as a space separate from the male gaze. Editor: So, Laboureur captures a moment of female community within the context of their work. Curator: Precisely, it invites us to think about the intersection of labor, gender, and social space as it was viewed then. Editor: Fascinating, it's more layered than I initially thought!