Harriet Devine's Blog

Woman Reading Browning

This is William Rothenstein, 'The Browning Readers', painted in 1900. I take the title to mean that these ladies are reading Browning -- perhaps they are members of the Browning Society, which was up and running at that time. Their room is restrained but all the pictures and objects carefully chosen and thoughtfully arranged. Nice.

Girl Reading

This painting is by the British portrait artist Norman Hepple (1908-1994). I think it's called The Letter, but I could be wrong. I like it partly because it reminds me of my best friend Catherine, who looked very much like this in her late teens. We were inseperable for our entire childhood, had our first babies at the same time, laughed ourselves stupid making up poems in Highgate Cemetery. She moved to America but we saw each other from time to time and always picked up just where we'd left off. Then a few years ago I did something by mistake that upset her and she has not spoken to me since. Sad. 

Woman Knitting and Reading at the Same Time

It's not very often you see a picture of somebody doing this and I'm not surprised as it looks like a pretty difficult thing to be trying. Perhaps it's a big fat book of knitting patterns? 

The picture is actually called Vienna House Garden and it seems to be by someone called Erasmus of Engarth, whoever he was. My daughter found it here.

Unfair Faces in Art History

zinaida serebriakova / self-portrait

Yes, while we are on the subject of self-portraits (or not - see yesterday's post) I thought you might like to see this, which is indeed one of a series called Unfair Faces in Art History and was reblogged on a blog I follow called Old Paint. Click the link for some more beauties. Who knew how pretty JMW Turner was?

Andrea del Sarto

Many years ago I went to Florence, my first and last visit there, and in one of the great art galleries I saw this painting, which was labelled 'Andrea del Sarto: Self Portrait'. I stood in front of it for ages, totally transfixed. What a beautiful man. Of course I knew about this painter because of Browning's poem, which tells the sad story of his unhappy marriage and his dissatisfaction with his own work. I was reminded of all this by dovegreyreader's post on Browning, whose 200th birthday it is today, and thought I'd have a look at the painting. But oh dear -- since I was in Florence, it's turned out that this is not a self portrait at all -- it is someone else entirely.  This is what he really looked like and though I'm sure he was a perfectly nice chap. I'm rather disappointed. 

Girl Thinking About Reading

Actually called 'What Shall I Read?' (a dilemma that will be familiar to most of us), this very Edwardian-looking painting is by one Florence Marlowe, who I know nothing about.

Woman Reading

This is Saint Catherine, painted by the wonderfully named anonymous Master of the Female Half-Lengths (a Dutch painter or possibly a whole studio of painters) in about 1530.

Rainy Day

It is a rainy day today, in London at least, so here is another picture by FW Benson of somebody enjoying a quiet day reading, which is what I'd like to be doing, though I won't. And the painting is called -- Rainy Day.

Portrait of a Lady

No, not the novel by Henry James, which I don't think I've read though probably I should and perhaps I will, but a painting by Frank W Benson which just happened to catch my eye this morning. As you will see if you follow the link, he was a celebrated American painter and described by Wikipedia as an Impressionist. This is not what I'd call an impressionist painting, though, but perhaps shows the influence of Vermeer or Velasquez, both of whom he apparently admired very much. 

She's not reading or writing or doing anything else, and it's not Saturday, my usual day for art, but because  I'm on the move this week, dashing hither and thither, and won't have time for reviewing, I thought I'd just show you something nice instead. If you want to see more of FWB's paintings there are many of them here.

Woman Reading

Mary Cassatt, 'The Reader', 1877.