Matilla i Marina’s painting could be defined as impressionistic-nuanced naturalism. This Catalan artist takes his starting point from reality, which he then interprets with an expressiveness that is restrained yet at once highly plastic, reminiscent in ways of his coeval Eliseu Meifrèn (1857-1940).

Landscapes featured prominently in many of his oil paintings, and he showed a special liking for the presence of water and its reflections, sometimes in views of the sea, and other times, of rivers as in this particular work. This tendency was possibly driven by the high commercial demand for this type of subject matter.

This oil on canvas, Washerwomen at the River, shows two women washing clothes in a slow-moving river, whose water reflects the outline of the hill that rises from the banks. A point of light breaks through the cloudy sky and reflects on the water, all of which is masterly rendered by the artist.

The red of the skirt worn by one of the two washerwomen in the painting stands out from the otherwise cold palette, a picturesque detail quite usual in the painting of the time. Interestingly enough, the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection has a strikingly similar oil painting depicting the same subject matter with the title Paisaje con río y lavanderas. This high quality and beautiful piece is worthy of the Catalan artist.