The ART of READING
Inspiring art from across the world (though number 6 will leave you puzzled and anxious).
“I think of reading a book as no less an experience than travelling or falling in love.”
— Jorge Luis Borges
I would love to make the assumption that if you are here, today and now, reading this, you have some form of a penchant for it. Reading that is.
For one, you are now reading. But also, you chose to enter this space where we are about to share a slice of art and reading. And who could blame you for it? Art and Books are two of the most beautiful things this life of ours has to offer.
As Borges said better than anyone could: “Siempre imaginé que el Paraíso sería algún tipo de biblioteca.”
I firmly believe that books and art are essential for children’s and adults’ development. To develop one’s soul, mind, and social awareness.
Art is a way of primordial understanding where, usually, no words are needed to explore angles of the universe and of sentiments.
And books are, well, everything. They are the medium through which the literate world expands, progresses, understands. Books are realms of infinite universes, infinite lives.
Books and art can change your life (and should never be banned), so here they are, together.
I present you with a list of paintings that will inspire both the bookworm and the art fanatic.
1. The Reader, by William Tolliver
“I love my work and I have worked very hard to portray African Americans with pride and dignity. My goal is to bring to the forefront the seriousness of art as a person’s heritage. I want my art to serve as a history lesson.”
— William Tolliver
Self-made artist, William Tolliver developed his unique style over time and through the influence of the great masters. He would then develop and call his style representational abstract expressionism. His main interests for painting being colours and representations.
As he learned a lot about art and how to paint through the books his mom would borrow from the public library, this painting (the reader) appears to be the perfect symbol of libraries’ irreplaceable role in education.
2. The Yellow Books by Van Gogh
As Vincent Van Gogh was a big influence on William Tolliver, here I am, putting them side by side.
After painting The Potato Eaters, Van Gogh chose to relocate from the Netherlands to Paris. Soon, he would encounter impressionist painting, needless to say, the colour and light fascinated him. Here, he began his studies with artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissarro, and others. The influence of his passion for colour and life in Paris transpire from this lively still life.
The Yellow Books (The Parisian Novels), 1887, is a predominately yellow and green painting of books that Van Gogh’s contemporary recognised as French paperbacks. Many think it is Vincent’s ode to literature.
How lovely yellow is! It stands for the sun.
3. Woman reading with Peaches, by Henri Matisse
However, this one, in particular, caught my attention. Why? The dark eye, the posture — as in listening with patience/impatience to someone who has interrupted her reading — the flowers on the wall, and the peaches. The harmony of the piece is evocative, the colours are summery, yet delicate.
What is she reading? I ask myself.
4. Woman Reading, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
As with Matisse, women's reading appears to be common in Kuniyoshi’s work. Some women read alone, some in the precious company of their furry friends.
This painting specifically (above) I find amazing. I love the composition, the details, the background art and writings, and of course, the cat. The woman as well appears to be having a good time.
This piece is a must-see for art lovers, book lovers, Japanese art fanatics, and cat worshippers.
5. Girl Reading, by Rick Beerhorst
Change is not easy, and anyone growing up has to understand this. Yet, we are precluded from fully internalizing it, as often, we wish for things to stay the same.
It is clear to the art lover that Magritte has played the role of the influencer here. Though Magritte had a penchant for apples, Beerhorst appear to prefer hummingbirds. Both symbols of our short sightlines.
Beerhorst admits his love for reading:
The experience of reading a book is a slow infusion of the story into our soul over a period of time, usually interrupted by other life experiences that occur between the time we put the book down, and when we pick it up again to resume reading. This slow-drip into our soul’s vein gives us time to assimilate the story in a deeper way perhaps than the dump-truck drop-off of a 90 minute film.
6. Man Reading a Newspaper, by Rene Magritte
Ok, sure, I have done it again. As Van Gogh was of inspiration to Tolliver, and Magritte was to Beerhorst, here we find the last two, one after the other.
The artwork is straightforward. However, because of human disappearance, there is a certain unnerving atmosphere. Magritte and his Belgian surrealist friends were known in fact for subtly undermining the mundane. And what is more mundane than a room? Or a man reading?
I can’t help wondering if the man is disappeared into the reading, into flow-state and story-immersion. Wondering if there are three empty (missing the man) panels because time has passed, but the man doesn’t know. He is lost in his read.
The artwork appears to be a game of spot the difference, since there are only little variations between each panel. It is then all up to the observer who must determine whether or not the slight differences are deliberate. Even though it looks to be the same time of day, there are minor, disconcerting, and nearly unnoticed alterations in the artwork, such as a slight shift in perspective and shadow.
7. Woman Reading, by Nicolae Vermont
I find Nicolae Vermont’s Woman Reading straight-up beautiful. Stunning.
The woman, the colours, the brushwork. Stunning.
The atmosphere is dreamlike: the window appears to be closed, and still, we can imagine a defiant breeze getting through the cracks, rendering the stories on the pages real. Alive.
The woman is smiling, her head comfortably held by her wrist. Nothing is wrong right now. Nothing can be wrong.
That’s about it. Sure, there are innumerable more paintings depicting books and reading, these were just my favourites. Seven beautiful works of art praising the highest pleasure of all: that of reading.
While being repetitive, I feel like leaving you guys with the same quote of Borges I had shared in Spanish.
This time, in English of course.
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges