Who painted The Mortuary, Paris?

The Mortuary, Paris was painted by Charles Meryon in 1854.

Where can I see The Mortuary, Paris?

The Mortuary, Paris is held by Cleveland Museum of Art.

What movement is The Mortuary, Paris?

The Mortuary, Paris is associated with Impressionism.

Artwork

The Mortuary, Paris

Charles Meryon , 1854

The Mortuary, Paris is a print by the Impressionist artist Charles Meryon. It dates from 1854 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this work

The painting shows a scene of boats on the Seine River in Paris.
These boats are called bateaux-lavoirs, where people did their laundry.
The artist was interested in how Paris was changing, and these boats were a part of that change, attracting many working-class women.
You can learn more about this style by looking at the work of artist Charles Meryon (French, 1821–1868).

Overview

Charles Meryon’s etching titled *The Mortuary, Paris* depicts a cluster of bateaux‑lavoirs—wash‑boats moored on the Seine. The composition captures the vessels as they float amid the river’s surface, their wooden hulls and rigging rendered with precise line work that conveys both the physical presence of the boats and the atmospheric mood of the waterway.

Subject & Meaning

The image records a daily urban ritual: laundresses from the working class boarding the floating laundries to wash clothing. By focusing on these modest, communal spaces, Meryon highlights the social fabric of mid‑nineteenth‑century Paris, emphasizing the contrast between the city’s grand architecture and the humble, labor‑intensive activities that sustained its inhabitants.

Technique & Style

The resulting delicate, densely cross‑hatched textures allow subtle gradations of tone, giving the water a shimmering quality and the boats a tactile solidity.

Meryon employed traditional copper‑plate etching, incising the design with a fine needle before immersing the plate in acid to bite the lines. The resulting delicate, densely cross‑hatched textures allow subtle gradations of tone, giving the water a shimmering quality and the boats a tactile solidity. His meticulous approach underscores the print’s documentary precision while retaining an expressive, almost melancholic atmosphere.

History & Provenance

Created between 1850 and 1860, the print reflects a period when Parisian authorities repeatedly relocated the bateaux‑lavoirs to the city’s periphery, deeming them unsightly and unhygienic. By the close of the nineteenth century, few such vessels remained. The work entered public collections in the early twentieth century, illustrating Meryon’s enduring interest in the city’s evolving landscape.

Artist & collection

Artist

Charles Meryon

Charles Meryon (sometimes Méryon, 23 November 1821 – 14 February 1868) was a French artist who worked almost entirely in etching, as he had colour blindness.