I've never actually met Ruth, of that delightful though sadly rather occasional blog Crafty People, but I feel as if we know each other through our mutual comments and the odd email. A few days ago she sent me some reading women, of this is one. It was painted by one Gustave Caillebotte. Never heard of him? Neither had I, but some quick googling revealed that he lived from 1848-1894 and is generally thought of as an Impressionist. If you want to know more, you can find a great deal out by looking here. He seems to have had a bit of a penchant for bourgeois domestic interiors and this rather charming painting is one such. The composition is interesting -- the woman reading a newspaper right up against the lens, as it were, and the man, reading a book, rather disproportionately tiny in the the background. In fact either it's the biggest sofa in the world or he is a midget.
