← all subjects

Readers, indoors and out

Books

Pictures with a book in them, and the people lost in one. Corot’s young woman reading in a meadow with a boat on the water behind her, a girl bent over a big book in Huntington’s wood, a man reading in a hammock under Sargent’s Florida palms, Daumier’s reader on a garden bench in a straw hat, and Saint Jerome reading under a tree while his lion stands guard in Rembrandt’s etching. Indoors, Fragonard’s young woman turns a page, van Gogh lays yellow novels beside his oleanders, and a book lies under Claesz’s skull.

As a puzzle

Readers are good company to build. The open pages are often the brightest patch in the picture, a natural first island, and a face bent over a book gives you a clear line to follow. The outdoor ones are mostly greens and dappled shade and take patience: Huntington’s wood is dark, and Rembrandt’s etching is ink on bare paper, so its sky is plain. A moderate count suits most.

A good size here: 50–200 pieces.

Styles here: Dutch Golden AgePost-ImpressionismAmerican PaintingNorthern RenaissanceRealismImpressionismItalian RenaissancePersian PaintingFrench RococoBarbizon SchoolVenetian PaintingSymbolismNeoclassicism

Painters here: Vincent van GoghEdgar DegasRembrandtJohn Singer SargentCamille CorotJean-Honoré Fragonard

19 pictures, pick one to build

Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill Pieter Claesz, 1628 Sulking Edgar Degas, ca. 1870 L'Arlésienne: Madame Joseph-Michel Ginoux (Marie Julien, 1848–1911) Vincent van Gogh, 1888–89 Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Angels Fra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1440 Study in a Wood Daniel Huntington, 1861 Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara Hans Memling, early 1480s "Diana, Goddess of the Hunt", Folio from the Davis Album Attributed to 'Ali Quli Jabbadar, early 17th century Allegory of Vigilance Jean Honoré Fragonard, ca. 1772 A Woman Reading Camille Corot, 1869 and 1870 Grandmother's Treasure Jozef Israëls The Letter Pietro Longhi (Pietro Falca), 1746 Hortensia Fernand Khnopff, 1884 Portrait of a Young Man Pompeo Batoni, ca. 1760–65 Allegory of the Catholic Faith Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1670–72 Oleanders Vincent van Gogh, 1888 Figure in Hammock, Florida John Singer Sargent, 1917 The Alchemist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, after 1558 A Man Reading in a Garden (recto); Preliminary sketch for a Man Reading in a Garden (verso) Honoré Daumier, ca. 1865 St. Jerome Reading in an Italian Landscape Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn), ca. 1653