Saturday, January 14, 2012

Saturday Salon: A Favorite Painting or Two.....or Three! Women Reading by Various Artists

Painting by Swedish artist, Carl Larsson (1853 - 1919)

Painting by American artist Charles Courtney Curran (1861 - 1942)

Painting by Swiss artist, Felix Valloton (1865 - 1925)

Painting by British artist George Dunlop Leslie (1835 - 1921)

Painting by American Realist artist Edward Hopper (1882 - 1967)

Painting by Czech artist Heinrich Max (1847 - 1900)

Painting by Dutch artist Isaac Israels (1865 - 1934)

Painting by  American artist, Julius LeBlanc Stewart (1855 - 1919)

Painting by Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi (1837 - 1887)

Painting by British artist Lord Frederick Leighton (1830 - 1896)

Painting by American Impressionist Louis Ritman (1889 - 1963)

Painting by American Coles Phillips (1880 - 1927)

Painting by French Post-Impressionist, Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954)

Painting by French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919)

Painting by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840 - 1926)

Painting by American Impressionist Childe Hassam (1859 - 1935)

Painting by British Impressionist, Harold Harvey (1874 - 1941)

Painting by Czech artist Frederick Serger (1889 - 1965)

Painting by Dutch Post-Impressionist, Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

Normally I feature the work of one painter but today, something a little different, I'm posting paintings of women done by various artists in various mediums and styles.

Many artists over the years have done at least one painting showing a woman in the act of reading. Perhaps in the beginning it was a novelty? Or perhaps it was the serenity of the moment that appealed.

24 comments:

  1. I adore paintings of women reading. You found some great ones. Thanks. Have a great weekend.

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  2. I never thought about paintings of women reading until now. Very original post. Thanks.

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  3. Terrific idea for a post! These are amazing paintings. Louis Ritman's is so special. I also liked Renoir's twins reading from a single book. I wonder what they're reading though, Jane Austen and Emily Bronte for sure.

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  4. Thanks, Rosemary. I love them too. Not as many of men reading, but I'll try and do a post on those as well one of these days.

    You have a great weekend. I think we'll avoid the snow. :)

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  5. You're welcome, Mike. Glad you dropped by.

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  6. Prashant: Thanks! Maybe they're reading Robert Louis Stevenson? He was around at that time, writing and being painted by Sargent.

    These guys all knew each other. Can you imagine the artistic testosterone floating around? And the genius. It's staggering.

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  7. Although Van Gogh comes close, you never can top Edward Hopper for this sort of thing.

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  8. Thanks, Mystica. I think so too.

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  9. Patti: Well, I'm extremely fond of the Childe Hassam and a couple of the others as well. :)

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  10. A lovely selection, and you have at least one lady reading in your side bar, as well. Perhaps this is such a popular theme because we all want to be as relaxed as these ladies look — and that in itself is relaxing.

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  11. Mark there are so many paintings of women reading that they are hard to limit to the twenty I posted today.

    I have several on my sideboards.

    Can't figure out why men readind isn't as relaxing. :)

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  12. What a fabulous collection of paintings. If only I looked/felt as serene with a book! Enjoyed the selections of some of my favorites, but there are several very arresting paintings here by those I don't know at all...Ivan Kramskoi, Carl Larsson and George Dunlop Leslie, to name just three. Great stuff, Yvette, I marvel at your creativity.

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  13. Oh, great collection! My blog header is a painting of a girl reading and when I finally get my signing bonus for work in several months, I plan to buy a print of it and frame it and put it up near all of my books :-)

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  14. Yvette, as a reader who also loves imagery, I loved your round-up of paintings of women reading. I like the tranquility of the image of reading, as well as the realization that as the women read, their reading material is inside their heads, and it's up to us to guess what's going through their minds! :-) I'm especially pleased that you included a painting from one of my very favorite artists, Edward Hopper -- further proof that you're a gal of superb taste and breeding! :-)

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  15. I love the Edward Hopper painting

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  16. Lady Eve: Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed the post.

    Carl Larsson is one of my very favorites. You should check out his work. It's marvelous.

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  17. Aarti: Definitely a great idea! Prints and posters of my favorite artists are on my walls also.

    Nothing like books and art. :)

    Thanks for dropping by.

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  19. Oh, I love Hopper's work too, Dorian. I think it may be time to do a Saturday Salon featuring Hopper's work...

    I wonder too what these women were thinking at the time the artist captured their pose.

    Yes, Thank YOU, m'dear, I am a woman of superb taste and breeding!
    Ha HA!!

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  20. Thanks and you're welcome, Yvette! If you should decide to run one of your wonderful Saturday Salons for Edward Hopper's art, I will be, as we say here at Team Bartilucci H.Q., the happiest girl in Puppetland! :-) (Yes, we're chock-full of eccentric pop culture references here at Team B. H.Q. :-))

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  21. I love the theme of women reading as portrayed by many artists.

    In this selection, I noted especially the works by Larsson, Israela and Hopper, which are new to me.

    There is a beautiful book called Reading Women, which includes some of these and many other lovely paintings with this theme.

    One I like is by Suzanne Valadon, which was Maurice Utrillo's mother and an artist in her own right.

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