Harriet Devine's Blog

Woman Arranging Flowers

This weekly spot - or as near weekly as I can manage - started life as a way of showing nice pictures of women reading or writing, and I still try to stick to that most of the time. But sometimes I find paintings that I just love and so they get in there too. And I was very taken with this one, called Flower Arranging, by the German artist Albert von Keller (1845-1920). I think it's charming and oh how I wish we could go around in dresses like that nowadays. 

And by the way, I have been very absent from here for ages -- work and then a lovely holiday being to blame -- but hope to be back with a few overdue reviews soon. 

Woman Reading

I love pictures of women reading seen from behind -- goodness knows why. This one is by the Boston artist William Worcester Churchill (1858-1926). You can read his biography and see some more of his paintings here.

Banksy

Just something that made me smile this morning -- the incomparable Banksy (famous but anonymous British street artist, in case you haven't heard of him) and a typically witty comment on those who want to destroy street -- or in this case cave -- art. 

Woman Painting

This lovely and unusual painting of a woman artist is by the French painter Étienne Azambre (1859-1935), and is called  Interior of a Studio, 1889. Of course she's not actually painting but thinking about it. I found it on a website I often visit, Old Paint, which is a great source of paintings of all countries and eras.  

Woman Not Reading

This is what I feel rather like doing today -- it's grey and rainy outside and I woke up much too early. But duty calls -- too much to do, too little time.

Anyway, this is called The Green Sofa, painted by the Belfast artist  Sir John Lavery (1846-1921) and sold last year for an amazing $1.3 million. It's very nice, but I'm not sure I'd have coughed up that much for it, even if I had that sort of money to throw around. Actually though Lavery was a pretty great painter and had quite an interesting life. You can read about , and see more of his lovely pictures, in a very lively article here.

Spring Landscape

Something for everyone who is suffering from an unseasonably late and cold spring. Here in France we have so far escaped the snow and bitter cold that has hit the UK for the second time this month, but the sky is grey, the temperature low, and there's no sign of the beautiful spring blossom that is shown in this lovely painting by the Danish American Emil Carlson (1853-1932). But it will come sooner or later.

Naked Woman Reading

Leon Kroll (1884-1974) painted this. Life Magazine described him as "the dean of US nude painters" and somebody else said he had " the eye of a hawk and the heart of a dove". 

Seeing as the weather here is grey and windy and the moment, and I am in bed with a nasty cold, this painting makes me feel decidedly chilly. Let's hope he painted it on a nice warm day.

My Mother

Not actually my mother, who, God bless her, departed this life many many years ago, but the mother of the great Swedish painter Carl Larsson. In my family nobody takes any notice of Mothers Day, though this year my darling youngest gave me a pretty necklace, which was a really nice surprise. I'm perfectly happy about this, so don't feel sorry for me. But as mothers seem to have been so much in the air in the last few days I thought I'd share this very lovely picture with you. 

Girl with Flowers

This painting, 'Girl with Flowers', is by Francis Coates Jones (1857-1932),  found on a website I often visit called Old Paint. I thought some flowers would be nice, to signal the coming Spring (though I see snow is forecast for Monday -- oh well). 

You can see a lot more of his paintings here, including several of people reading, which may well pop up on here before long.

 

Woman Reading a Letter

 

A nice bit of Victoriana by Canadian artist Frederick Simpson Coburn (1871-1960). Here are some more of his images.