Description
Houses with Laundry (Suburb II) is a 1914 oil painting by Egon Schiele: two clusters of tall, narrow houses with rows of brightly coloured washing strung across the lower half of the canvas on red posts. The original measures 119 x 99 cm. We paint it by hand in oils on canvas at the size you choose, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work for approval.
| Title: | Houses with Laundry (Suburb II) |
| Other titles: | German: Häuser mit bunter Wäsche (Vorstadt II) |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1914 |
| Original size (width × height): | 119 x 99 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Style: | Expressionism |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes from 55 x 45 cm to 170 x 140 cm, or a made-to-measure size |
Houses with Laundry (Suburb II) – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
Two clusters of tall, narrow houses stand side by side, their roofs brown and grey-green, their walls orange, yellow and white. Across the lower half of the canvas the washing hangs on red posts, line after line of it, in strong reds, blues, greens and whites – the brightest thing in the picture. Behind the houses the ground is laid in broad bands of pale grey and cream, with almost no sky and no horizon. Two small boats sit at the bottom right and one more at the bottom left. There are no people in it: the washing speaks for them.
Why do people love it?
Because it is a cheerful picture of ordinary life. A whole street’s worth of laundry turns into a band of pure colour across the middle of the work, and the houses behind it are simplified almost to flat shapes, so the painting reads instantly from the far side of a room. The palette is warm – orange, ochre, white – lively without being loud, which is why it works as well in a hallway or a kitchen as it does above a sofa. Step closer and the detail arrives: a window here, a boat there, the uneven line of a roof. The subject is friendly and carries no heavy story, which makes it one of the easier choices among Schiele’s works for a family home.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
Among his townscapes, the subject he returned to more often than any other. The closest relatives in our selection are Crescent of Houses II, Krumau on the Vltava (The Small Town IV), The Small Town III and Houses on the River (The Old Town). This one dates from 1914, and the washing makes it the most colourful of the group. The full selection is in the Egon Schiele gallery, with more on his life in our article about Egon Schiele.
How is our hand-painted version made?
A painter works every canvas in oils, stroke by stroke: a hand-painted painting made for your order, not a machine print. Two things are hard here. The first is the washing – dozens of small, flat patches of saturated colour that have to stay crisp at the edge and slightly irregular in shape, or the lines turn into machine-made fabric. The second is the house walls: broad flat planes of orange and ochre where the direction of the brush still has to show, held in by dark drawn outlines. Like the original, our copy is oil on canvas. When it is finished we photograph it and send you the photograph for approval, and only then does it ship. We have not yet painted or photographed this work in our workshop, so the only photograph on this page is of the original and there are no workshop photographs yet.
Which size for which wall?
The original is 119 cm wide and 99 cm high, and of our sizes 125 x 105 cm comes closest to it. Above a sofa or a sideboard, 125 x 105 cm or 145 x 120 cm; above a desk or a chest of drawers, 85 x 70 cm or 110 x 90 cm; in a hallway or a narrow niche, 55 x 45 cm; on a large uninterrupted wall or in a room with a high ceiling, 170 x 140 cm. There is a lot happening in the lower half, so leave yourself a few steps of viewing distance – only from there do the lines of washing settle into a single sweep. Hang it with the centre at eye level, about 145–150 cm from the floor.
Custom size, stretcher and frame
If none of our sizes suits your wall, we paint the work to your own measurement. If you choose “YES” under the Stretcher option, the canvas comes stretched on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang. Our 3D application is for choosing a frame only, not for showing the work on your wall. The frame is chosen separately and need not be part of the order.
Delivery and guarantee
We paint to order and deliver to sixteen countries in the European Union, among them Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Germany and France; the United Kingdom and Ireland are not currently among them. The painting arrives protectively packed and, if you chose “YES” under Stretcher, stretched on the stretcher; before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work to approve. Production time depends on the size and on the studio’s workload. Every order is covered by our Returns and Refund Policy.
Frequently asked questions
What does Houses with Laundry (Suburb II) show?
The edge of a town: two groups of tall narrow houses with lines of washing strung in front of them on red posts, and three small boats along the bottom edge. There are no figures in it.
When did Schiele paint it?
In 1914. Schiele died in Vienna in October 1918 at the age of 28, so this belongs to the work of his middle years.
Which colours dominate?
Orange, yellow and white walls under brown and grey-green roofs, a pale grey and cream ground, and the washing itself in strong reds, blues and greens.
Which room does it suit?
Anywhere you want colour without a busy pattern: above a sofa, in a hallway, in a kitchen or a dining room. The format is wider than it is tall, so it wants a horizontal wall rather than a narrow pier.
Can I order a size that is not on the list?
Yes. Tell us the width and the height you need and we paint to that measurement. This work is wider than it is tall, so measurements in a similar proportion keep the composition intact.
Does it work as a gift?
Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, there is a gift voucher.
Is this a print?
No. Every canvas is painted by hand in oils by a painter, for your order. We photograph the finished work and send you the photograph before it is dispatched.
How do I look after it?
Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from radiators and damp. Dust it with a dry soft brush; never use water or detergent on an oil painting.
