Joaquin Sunyer (Spanish, 1874–1956). Washerwomen (Blanchisseuses), 1898–1900. Oil on canvas. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Madrid. Photo Credit: VEGAP / Art Resource, NY.

Sunyer's washerwoman is asymetrically loading her spine, flexing and rotating her thoracolumbar spine to the right to counteract the heavy load from the bagged laundry that she has slung over her left shoulder. For just a moment, however, the viewer's eye might be led by the painting's composition to imagine that the washerwoman is bearing the world on her back—the barge, the smokestacks—as she trudges along the canal.

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