Georges Villain (1854-1930) Etretat, The Washerwomen Normandy

Georges VILLAIN
(1854, Paris – 1930)
Washerwomen on the beach at Étretat
Oil on canvas
H. 51 cm; L. 65 cm
Signed lower right Around 1900

Son of Eugène Marie François (1821-1897), who was a pupil of Charlet and Léon Cogniet, Georges trained with Henri Harpignies and Benjamin-Constant, and began to exhibit at the Paris Salon in 1877. He mainly produced landscapes of Brittany, in the region of Rennes and Saint-Malo, and of the south-west coast of the Channel (Granville, Avranches), where some Parisian views. In 1894, Villain traveled to the coasts of Upper Normandy, with views of Cayeux, then he "descended" to Étretat, which became his main subject from 1896/1897. He turns out to be an excellent observer of the seaside or laborious activities of the Cauchoise city, and thus represents on several occasions the washerwomen, or washerwomen, on the beach of Étretat. At the Cercle Volney in Paris, in February 1897: Washers at Étretat. At the Salon de Versailles (exhibition of the Society of Friends of the Arts of Seine et Oise) of 1898 (July 3 – October 2): Washers, Étretat beach, under No. 312. Villain presents four works at this exhibition. At the Paris Salon of 1903, Washers; Étretat beach, under No. 1729; then at the Paris Salon of 1904, same title, under No. 1799; and again at the Paris Salon of 1905, same title, under the number 1899. It is probably the same painting, and possibly ours, re-exhibited three times. At the Salon du Havre in 1905, a watercolor: Washers, beach at Étretat, morning, under No. 767 At the Salon de Toulouse from 1908 (May to September), Washers, beach at Étretat, under No. 995 At the Salon d'Évreux in 1908 (July-August). We find written in the bulletin of the Society of Friends of the Arts of the department of Eure: "The washers were observed and noted by Mr. Villain at the seaside of Étretat, with a just realism of pose and colors , skill and even boldness of craftsmanship… and a flickering touch”. Our subject is emblematic of everyday life in Etretat at the time. It shows the washerwomen investing the beach at low tide, when, the salt water receding, the fresh water from the rivers flows underground to the shore; by pushing aside the pebbles, the washerwomen create cavities which then fill with fresh water; they work until the rising tide comes to flow back the fresh water. Alphonse Karr thus describes this picturesque task, the fountain: “It is there that all the news of the country is sold; it is there that we talk about everything and everyone, that we discuss, that we judge, that we absolve, that we condemn... it is there that we learn the news of the sailors fishing, let people comment on loves and marriages. It says how the fish was sold at Fécamp, how much at Le Havre; it recounts the disasters caused by the last gust of wind, the dreams we had at night”.

In this beautifully luminous canvas, Georges Villain has faithfully captured both the hard work of the washerwomen and the intensity of their social interaction. We obviously recognize above the washers, the imposing silhouette of the famous cliff of Étretat, contrasted by the light tones of the pebbles reflecting the sun.