At a time when women were not enjoying much freedom. Most of them had to stay at home day and night and not leave it except for necessity, reading was their way to escape and move towards another world in which they lived with their imaginations. Of course, the same act of reading was associated more with men than with women in those periods. So, when women were drawn reading, the paintings were more charming and powerful than normal.
While the presence of a beautiful woman in any painting suggests a sense of comfort and elation, the presence of very feminine and elegant women seated reading on quiet lights in a romantic atmosphere more than just ordinary and more than just beautiful, just as in the following paintings.
Women Own the World When You Read - Betty Smith
The first painting
Young Woman Reading by a Window by French academic painter Delphin Enjolras (1875-1945). Ingulrass paintings are about elegant women who perform ordinary activities such as reading, sewing or preparing the dinner table, in warm, intimate lighting indoors.
In this painting, as is his custom in his paintings, an elegant woman sits at the window, reading in the light of day, in a feminine silk dress. The interior design of the house appears in the painting and gives the impression that all this elegance is not outside the house but inside it. And that a woman's excessive femininity is not complete without a mind open to the world.
The second painting
Interior with a woman reading (Interior with a woman reading) by Danish painter Carl Vilhelm Holsoe (1863-1935) Carl Vilhelm Holsoe, who was famous for painting the interiors of Danish homes of his time while adding a touch of warmth and tranquility by illustrating simple activities that people practiced.
In his painting, we find a modestly dressed woman sitting at a table in front of a vase and lighting and reading a book. It is the same subject that Hulso focused on in most of his paintings, as he saw reading as a haven for anyone who wants to separate from reality, even if only for a few minutes.
The third painting
Reading a story by candlelight by the American painter Francis Day (1863-1889) James Francis Day, who was interested in drawing mothers with their children, showing how much love the mother bestowed upon children. Clear through the use of shadows and light.
In this painting, a very sweet and tender mother sits reading a story to her child standing in front of her, open-mouthed and keenly attentive. Behind them, lit candles and a vase give the painting an air of warmth and tenderness. As was the custom of female painters as they read at that age, Dai was interested in showing the details of his clothes, colors and hairstyles of mother and daughter.
Fourth painting
A Student Reading by the Light of a Lamp (Schoolgirl Reading by Lamplight) by Russian artist Nikolay Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky (1868--1945). His painting was shown at a time when Russia was witnessing great social and political unrest, and yet the exhibition was met with great demand and a great success. Most of his work revolves around young girls from the countryside who insist on reading in unfavorable conditions.
In this painting, like many of his paintings, a girl wearing a headscarf, which was a custom for rural women to wear at that time, sits at a table and reads by the light of a lamp. The painter himself says of that painting, "I found the spontaneity and persistence of the peasant children to the point that they became major themes in my paintings."
This is how many of the paintings depicted the beauty of women when they read: In a romantic atmosphere, they sit immersed in books in their full elegance and do not want anyone to interrupt what they read. The charm of women is not only due to their outward appearance, but also from their intellect and acumen.