Come back when I’ve finished the chapter … or maybe the book
Post published:November 30, 2015
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732 – 1806 ), Young Girl Reading, c. 1770, oil on canvas (overall: 81.1 x 64.8 cm (31 15/16 x 25 1/2 in.). Gift of Mrs. Mellon Bruce in memory of her father, Andrew W. Mellon
I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember, and this painting captures the emotion I associate with it—utter absorption and bright light, even if the day is dark or the book is melancholy.
Fragonard (1732-1806), one of the greatest artists of the Rococo period, is famous for his frivolous, erotic subjects, delicate colors, and lively brushwork. When the Impressionists (a century later) used loose brushstrokes, they often blotted out texture for the sake of showing the play of light. Fragonard’s loose brushstrokes suggest the play of light, but also the different textures of face, hair, dress, pillow, and wall. If you use the zoom function on the National Gallery’s site, you can see that the texture of the ruff around her neck was scratched in with the end of a paintbrush. Contemporaries called Fragonard’s painting style the “swordplay of the brush.” It makes me think of Rubens and John Singer Sargent.
The textures and the light, and what the colors actually are. Reproductions online vary widely (for example, this one vs. this one), and I no longer remember which are accurate.
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