1792
oil
canvas
From the collection of Fitzwilliam Museum
The Reader is a 1792 oil by Marguerite Gérard, held at Fitzwilliam Museum.
The painting depicts two women in a room, one standing and the other sitting. The standing woman wears a long white dress with a low neckline and long sleeves, while the seated woman is dressed in a red and white dress with a large hat. The room features a dark background with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A small table is visible behind the seated woman, with papers and a book on it. The overall atmosphere of the painting is one of elegance and refinement. To learn more about the artist's use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects and figures, look up Marguerite Gérard.
Marguerite Gérard (French pronunciation: ; 28 January 1761 in Grasse – 18 May 1837 in Paris) was a French painter and printmaker working in the Rococo style.
See the richer artist page
