The painting “Interrupted Reading” by Camille Corot has been interpreted many different ways since its creation in 1870. As the Art Institute claims, the painting is of a “depressed” woman or Corot’s ideal women. Other scholars have claimed that the woman represents high-class society. No matter what the interpretation was, each argument was able to give their reasons for why they believed “Interrupted Reading” meant what it did. Though I feel each analysis is right, and the painting it open to interpretation, I believe the painting represents how even the smallest of moments have so much beauty and emotion. Also, that with not knowing anything other than this shot it gives off a mysterious vibe. I feel as though this beauty and emotion is visible when looking at this one moment of a woman whose reading is interrupted.
In a few articles I found on Camille Corot and his works, they discuss how lighting and detail made him notable. In the article, from NNDB, the author claims that artist Camille Corot’s paintings fall into different periods of his artistic career. In the period “Interrupted Reading” falls under, “from 1865 onwards, his manner of painting became full of “mystery” and poetry” (Camille Corot). The viewers only seeing a woman holding a book and looking straightforward represent this mystery in the painting. We do not know who she is, where she is, or what is happening around her. We only see what the artist wants us to see, leaving the rest for us to think about. Yet, in this one moment we see the expression on the woman’s face and her posture giving us an idea of what her emotions are at this moment. This emotion is the poetry in the painting.
Corot was also famous for “tone…and delicate handling of light….”(Corot, Jean-Bartiste Camille). This aids in the emotion and mystery of the painting by Corot having a solid color background leaving us unsure of where the woman is. Also, the colors are not too bright giving off an emotion of almost ease and relaxation maybe boredom. These colors symbolize the capturing of a moment so natural, yet mysterious because we do not know the story behind the woman.
Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. © 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease. © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 04 Apr. 2010 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0813632.html>.
Rosenberg, Karin. “KNOW WHAT YOU SEE.” Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (2010): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2010. <http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Essay.Know-What-You-See.214.html>.
“Camille Corot.” NNDB tracking the entire world n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2010. <http://www.nndb.com/people/579/000086321/>.
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