Linen
- Artist: Natalia Goncharova
- Date: 1913
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 956 x 838 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Linen” by Natalia Goncharova. Painted in 1913 with oil on canvas, it shows a bustling commercial laundry, split between male items like shirts, collars, cuffs on one side and female items such as lace, blouses, aprons on the other. The division hints at an intimate relationship between two people. Text appears throughout the composition—an echo of Goncharova’s collaboration with transrational poets and the artists‑book movement that fused image and word in nonlinear, unexpected ways. Goncharova, a pioneer of the Russian avant‑garde, brought together folk motifs, textile patterns and the energy of modernism in her work. In this painting she turns everyday laundry into a vibrant tableau of colour and movement, making a quiet scene feel alive and playful.
See it in person
Linen is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
