THE READING,1870 by HENRI FANTIN-LATOUR
In this painting, the reader is the artist’s future wife, VICTORIA DUBOURG. The dark part of the canvas suggests that VICTORIA is lost or entranced by or in the world of a book. On the right-hand side of the painting is victoria’s sister, charlotte. At the time, VICTORIA was a guest of CHARLOTTE’s house. CHARLOTTE stares straight at VICTORIA.
On her side of the frame, the light illuminates her almost as if she has materialized out of the dark that her sister inhabits. On the other hand, THE READING offers another example of the painter’s grim realism. The composition conveys a poem-like, almost dream-like and melancholic atmosphere. In fact, the image conveys a sense of domestic isolation through the mental separation of the two sisters.
While this is a testament to FANTIN-LATOUR’s skill in light, colour, and form, the portrait is perhaps the most interesting to historians because it contains a touch of romance. Although HENRI and VICTORIA had a long-standing relationship, and this was painted at the very start of their 35-year romance, the painting would seem to support the notion that FANTIN-LATOUR and CHARLOTTE had a secret affair.
