Floor with Laundry No. 3

Sylvia Plimack Mangold

1 of 3

Object Label

Although now known primarily as a landscape painter, Sylvia Plimack Mangold engaged in the realistic depiction of domestic interiors until the mid-1970s. In this painting she painstakingly describes the geometry created by a patterned parquet floor strewn with articles of clothing. Using exaggerated perspective, the artist leads us into the depth of space, implying the large scale of the room. In contrast to the elaborately set up interiors that were the subject of paintings through the nineteenth century, Mangold presents a segment of a modern household where everyone is rushing, and tidying up is the last thing on anyone's mind.

Caption

Sylvia Plimack Mangold American, born 1938. Floor with Laundry No. 3, 1971. Acrylic and pencil on canvas, 44 × 56 in. (111.8 × 142.2 cm) frame: 45 3/4 × 58 × 2 in. (116.2 × 147.3 × 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Ivan and Sharon Koota in memory of Miriam Miller, 1993.213. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.213_PS6.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Floor with Laundry No. 3

Date

1971

Geography

Place made: United States

Medium

Acrylic and pencil on canvas

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

44 × 56 in. (111.8 × 142.2 cm) frame: 45 3/4 × 58 × 2 in. (116.2 × 147.3 × 5.1 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Ivan and Sharon Koota in memory of Miriam Miller

Accession Number

1993.213

Rights

© artist or artist's estate

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Frequent Art Questions

  • This is interesting.

    That is a painting by Sylvia Mangold. It addresses women's societal roles and inner lives, in an indirect way.
    Yes, I see that! I love that the menial task of laundry is represented.
    Yes, Mangold puts us right on our hands and knees with that perspective. And the flooring is so meticulously rendered. Our curator pointed out that it hangs below a scene of a princess and a frog prince -- the fantasy, and the reality!

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