THE FRIDAY BLOG PAGE
THE READING WOMEN
This mouth painting is much earlier than most of the calendar and by far the most unusual of the twelve paintings in this calendar Titled Young woman reading in day dress Painted by Etienne Claude Voysard (French, Paris 1746–1812 Paris) Coloured by hand from an Etching on woven paper. I could find very little about this artist. but we do know the type of work he did. Mostly men and woman in the cloths of the day. Some very fashionable day and evening wear. The amazing detail on the hooped dresses and the wonderful colours that men were wearing many shade of pink, greens and blues. There are a group of women he painted with bright coloured parrots. What is the most fascinating feature in nearly all of the women’s painting are the wigs, some seen so outrages in the size and height, no wonder this model is sitting in what looks like the most uncomfortable position and she is reading, for the wigs they wore were rather heavy and kept the heat in under the wig, no wonder so many had fits of the vapours. I wonder what the pages are telling her in that book? The neck line is rather risqué and do you agree a little bit too much cleavage but of course very fashionable. I can’t help but wonder who was it that came up with this Statement of nineteen century fashion for women. I must say “I just love her tiny ankles and feet” The bird stand at this time was “a must have for any exotic bird from strange sounding country’s”.
“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill”
This quote written by American historian and author. Wertheim Tuchman (1912-1989 She won the Pulitzer Prize twice, best known for her works on 20th century wars,
Her writings are noted for attention to detail and colourful style.
The author was most interested in the human element in history and, consequently, emphasized biographical data even in works devoted to the coming and waging of war.
Loraine Grace Blog 