The work of art under review is a painting entitled “Woman Reading in the Studio.” The painting was created by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot circa 1868. The location where the painting was created is unknown. The overall dimensions of the artwork are 32.5 x 41.3 cm, but when it is framed, its dimensions are 50.5 x 59.1 x 6.4 cm (Corot, 1868). The medium of the painting is oil on paperboard on wood. The artwork is displayed in the exhibition called “Small French Paintings” at the National Gallery of Art, which is situated in Washington, DC.
As evident from the painting’s title, it depicts a young woman sitting at a desk and reading a book lying in front of her. The woman looks focused as she reads; she is dressed in a white and grey blouse and a pink skirt. On the left side of the picture, behind the woman, the viewer can see a painting depicting a landscape. Although the painting is two-dimensional, the artist added depth to it by using shades and perspective.
The work’s media, oil on paperboard on wood, has a significant impact on its form and content. Oil paint allowed the artist to use a wide variety of different pigments, which helped him to create the depth of the image and accentuate the most important parts of the painting. For example, the artist used white oil paint for the woman’s blouse and the book and placed these elements at the center of the composition to attract the viewer’s attention to these elements.
The use of oil paint also allowed the artist to create the texture of various elements included in the painting, such as the curling of the woman’s hair, the thickness of the book, and the transparency of the glass on the table. The chosen art medium also helped the artist to convey the thoughtful and focused mood of the woman, which is created by the coloring, lines, and shades on her face. This oil painting is also distinguished by the absence of sharp lines; instead of sharp lines, the artist used color contrast to mark the boundaries among different elements of the picture.
Reference
Corot, J.-B.-C. (1868). Woman reading in the studio [Painting]. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States. Web.