The Reader

"The Reader" is a French painting by Jean-Honore Fragonard and is reminiscent of the Rococo period. This painting was completely finished in 1776; it is currently housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Before he painted this, he studied in Italy and usually painted landscapes, a personal favorite being gardens. An example of this is his painting, "The Swing." However, after he married, he changed his style a bit and began painting children, doing mundane things like reading. He found pleasure and beauty in such simplicity. Personally, I am a huge fan of this painting because of how simple and beautiful it is. The first time I saw it I was volunteering at a senior citizens home, and it captivated me. Moreover, I feel as if he gets the value and colors just right, and it does not clash. For example, the shadows in the face seem extremely realistic to me. Also, the bright yellow of the dress does not clash with the dull pink of the chair, or the dull purplish-pink of the bow in her hair and on the front of the dress. In order to get these colors, he must have had to take great care in mixing them. I would also like to point out the softness of the painting, which is a characteristic of the Rococo style of painting.In addition, the background is void of any content, creating more movement in the figure herself. "The Reader"'s pose is elegant, and she is sitting up straight. Yet, her eyes are not on the painter, but the opposite way, which is not usually custom for a painting, yet makes it a great deal more interesting. It should be noted that Fragonard won an award called the Prix de Rome, which is how he came to study in Italy. It is curious that he won this award because he was not "eligible" for it at the time. Sadly, there is not a huge amount of information on Jean-Honore Fragonard or "The Reader." This is because he was overlooked as an artist of consequence for a substantial period of time. It should be noted that his paintings after he returned from Italy to France had a different style and that he created somewhat of a scandal because of the unacceptable subjects of the painting, at least at that time.



*Note: the information on "The Reader" was widely scattered and difficult to come by. Therefore, I will not be including sources for this article because I did not use any quotes, and because snippets of information came from multiple sources. Also, I will be completing three articles this week, since the past two weeks have been lacking in articles, due to the fact that I have been sick and extremely busy.