''Young Girl Reading'', or ''The Reader'' (french: La Liseuse), is an 18th-century

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ar ...

. It depicts an unidentified girl seated in profile, wearing a lemon yellow dress with white ruff collar and cuffs and purple ribbons, and reading from a small book held in her right hand. The painting is in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington, DC.

History

Jean-Honoré Fragonard had an extensive career. After he won the 1753

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

with a painting titled ''Jeroboam Sacrificing to the Golden Calf'', he became one of the foremost French painters in the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style, which was filled with light colors, asymmetrical designs, and curved, natural forms. The Rococo style emerged in Paris during the eighteenth century, more specifically during the reign of Louis XV, when the French upper class experienced a new social and intellectual freedom. As stated, "Aristocrats and wealthy bourgeois focused on play and pleasure. Grace and wit were prized in social interactions. A new intellectual curiosity gave rise to a healthy skepticism toward well-worn truths." Fragonard was most drawn to the playful lives and loves of the aristocratic youth of his day. The painting was purchased by the

in Washington, DC in 1961 using funds donated by

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Ailsa Mellon Bruce (June 28, 1901 – August 25, 1969) was a prominent American socialite and philanthropist who established the Avalon Foundation. Early life Ailsa was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 28, 1901. She was the daughter of t ...

, the daughter of

Andrew W. Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

, following her father's death. Ailsa Mellon Bruce was a well-known socialite in Manhattan and gained recognition in the art world from the numerous generous donations she gave to a variety of museums and art programs.

Painting

The painting features an unidentified girl wearing a lemon yellow dress with white ruff collar and cuffs and purple ribbons. The subject is depicted in profile, reading from a small book held in her right hand, sitting with her left arm on a wooden rail and her back supported by a large lilac cushion resting against a wall. Her hair is tied in a chignon with a purple ribbon, and her face and dress are lit from the front, casting a shadow in the wall behind her. Fragonard pays close attention to the face, but uses looser brushwork on the dress and cushion, and the ruff was scratched into the paint with the end of a brush. The horizontal line of the armrest and a vertical line between two unadorned walls provide a sense of space and structure. The text of the book is not legible and no hint is given of the content. In ''Young Girl Reading,'' color helps convey emotion and mood. Fragonard used a typical Rococo color scheme, which consisted of soft, delicate colors and hues of gold. The pillow's violet tint, the darker-toned walls and armrest, and the female subject's rosy-toned skin and bright-yellow dress help create the illusion of warmth and joy, and a sense of sensuality. These bright colors present a strong contrast to the dark background and help the viewer home in on the curves and contours of the female form. Texture is created through Fragonard's loose, but energetic and gestural brushstrokes, as in the frills in the girl's dress. Texture helps create depth and contrast among different elements of the painting—for example, the walls, the dress, and armrest all have different textures created through different styles of brushstrokes. The work is more a

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...

of an everyday scene than a portrait, and the name of the sitter is not known.

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

photography has revealed that the canvas originally featured a different head looking towards the viewer, which Fragonard painted over. It is one in a series of quickly executed paintings by Fragonard featuring young girls, known as ''figures de fantaisie''. The painting was not a completed academic work, and probably passed through the hands of several collectors and dealers in France. It was owned by surgeon

Théodore Tuffier Théodore-Marin Tuffier, known as Théodore Tuffier (26 March 1857 – 27 October 1929Geneanet/ref>) was a French surgeon. He was a pioneer

, and came to the US before 1930, when it was in the collection of Alfred W. Erickson in New York, founder of the advertising agency

McCann Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCann, expe ...

. It was inherited by his wife Anna Edith McCann Erickson in 1936, and following her death in 1961 it was bought by the National Gallery of Art.

References

External links

''Young Girl Reading'' at the National Gallery of Art''Young Girl Reading'' - Analysis and Critical ReceptionFragonard, Pierre Rosenberg, p.282
National Gallery of Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Young Girl Reading 1770s paintings Collections of the National Gallery of Art Paintings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard Paintings of children Books in art