V Ormsby, British fl. 1870-1886- Washing Day in Normandy; oil on canvas, signed with monogram, signed and titled on the reverse, 128x127.5cm Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1885, no. 820. Provenance: Christopher Cole Fine Paintings, Henley-on-Thames, Autumn 1983, where purchased 25th February 1984. Note: This lot is accompanied with a Christopher Cole Fine Paintings catalogue which features the present painting. This piece is by the nineteenth-century British painter V. Ormsby, and was exhibited alongside other work by the artist at the Royal Academy in 1885. It appeared with his particularly popular 'Seaside Enjoyment', which has been the subject of subsequent prints. This work in many ways echoes the themes which were being depicted by Ormsby's contemporaries, particularly in its sympathetic and somewhat idealised depiction of women carrying out domestic tasks. The use of bright colours in the depiction of the women’s regional dress creates a sense of vitality, which stands out against the darkness of their setting. Indeed, this sharp contrast of light and dark imbues the painting with a dramatic power which lends a sense of significance to activities which, although they might easily be written off as mundane or unimportant, are actually the final vestiges of a vanishing, traditional way of life. Please refer to department for condition report