After the bath

Lhermitte frequently depicted peasants at work in the fields, while intimate scenes such as this one are rare in his œuvre. The present work can be compared with Bedtime, also drawn in charcoal and of the same dimensions, depicting a woman sitting on her bed in a similar pose while undressing (private collection; Le Pelley Fonteny, op. cit., dessins localisés, no. 449, ill.). A smaller, and quickly sketched, study in charcoal of the present composition was recently on the art market (Rouillac, Vendôme, 6 June 2021, lot 76); the cataloguing of that work confused it with the present drawing.