A Young Girl Reading by Jean Honore Fragonard

We’re getting closer to spring, but have you ever heard this saying? “March is just February spelled differently.” Many places are still cold and snowy in March, so it’s good to keep a supply of books to read. And a snuggly pillow and cup of hot cocoa or tea would be great, too. In A Young Girl Reading by French artist, Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806), the young girl is doing just that!

 Let’s Learn about the Artist

Fragonard lived in Paris most of his life. As a teenager he was apprenticed to Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, who was a master of still lifes and genre scenes of domestic life.

Fragonard later trained as a history painter in Paris and in Italy, but when he returned to Paris, he chose to do small works for private collectors. Many portray the courtly life of the aristocracy in the fluffy, cotton-candy-colored Rococo style.

Rococo art was an over-the-top decorative style in the 1700s that used swirls and curls on everything from furniture to horses’ harnesses. Palaces were decorated with this style, and paintings often portray the elegant life of the nobility. Some Rococo artwork contains nudity and celebrates immoral courtly behavior.

Later in life Fragonard returned to Italy, and drawings from then show he still enjoyed working on genre scenes. A Young Girl Reading captures one of those everyday moments. But the French Revolution (1789-1799) brought big changes to art, and Fragonard died in 1806, mostly forgotten.

Let’s Look at and Enjoy the Painting

This painting is a cross between a genre painting and a portrait. More than likely someone Fragonard knew sat for the painting, and she is dressed in the height of fashion. But the painting also focuses on her activity—the everyday moment of reading a book.

Young Girl Reading by Jean Honore Fragonard, 1776, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., public domain

Here are some suggestions to further explore the painting:

• What is happening in the painting?
• Is the girl focused on the book or looking away and daydreaming?
• Is the mood quiet or noisy?  busy or peaceful?
• How do the yellows and reds help create the mood?
• How has the artist arranged shapes, lines, and colors to get us to notice the subject? Think about where she is in the painting and the bright color of her dress.
• How about the tiny book? Think about how the book stands out against the dark background, which it wouldn’t in her lap. And how it allows her to show off the elegant tea-party gesture with her pinkie finger.
• Find the touches of violet that Fragonard used along with the yellow. Yellow and violet are opposite each other on a color wheel and are called complementary colors. Artists often pair complementary colors, because when they are next to each other, as in this painting, the resulting high contrast is eye-catching.
• Of course, God thought of it first! He used complementary colors when He created flowers because that shimmery high contrast attracts insects and birds. Look at pictures of flowers or the real thing if you can, to see how many flowers with complementary colors you can find. (violet and yellow pansies are one example)
• Are things in the painting finished and smooth, or can you see the brushwork?
• Fragonard painted quickly, with loose brushwork that he didn’t blend much. The girl’s face is fairly detailed, but the ribbons are sketchy, and the book’s printing is just some lines of paint. Some critics would have said that this was okay for quick oil studies, but not for finished works.
• Notice the violet highlights on the girl’s face and in her hair and the rust colors of the shadows on the pillow. These unusual colors and the loose brushwork show Fragonard’s admiration for Rembrandt and show his influence on the Impressionists, who were also accused of using funny colors and sketchy brushwork. Berthe Morisot, one of Impressionism’s women artists, was a grandniece of Fragonard. Fragonard clearly  influenced Renoir’s paintings of women and children.

A Little Inspiration from God’s Word

I first saw this painting on a poster I bought my first year of teaching. I loved the painting, and I especially loved the Bible verse printed on the poster. It always hung it in my classroom no matter where we moved. The verse is from Proverbs 4:23.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

The word “wellspring” doubles down on its meaning as a source of life. The word well—something we draw water from—comes from Old English meaning “to bubble and roll.” Spring—also from Old English—means “to come out or up with speed and force.”

So the idea is of the heart as a source of life that bubbles-up with a forceful or continual supply—not our physical hearts—but our spiritual heart or center of our being. And life is not the life that will end in death, but eternal life.

The Lord is most concerned about that heart, because it is the heart that the Holy Spirit must change for us to believe in Jesus and receive eternal life. He changes it from a heart of stone to one of flesh so our inner most thoughts and desires change course and spring up with love for God.

Notice that the verse in Proverbs is a command, “Guard your heart….” And we don’t just guard something important once and then forget it. The dragon in The Hobbit never stopped guarding his treasure. He slept right on top of it, and it was just gold and jewels!

How much more should we keep on guarding the priceless treasure of a heart that has been bought with the precious blood of Christ and now belongs to God?

How do you decide what goes into your heart? How do you guard your heart so that it is a heart that can continually bubble up in a life that honors and serves God and overflows with love for Him and others?

Picture of Molly the Artsy Corgi

Molly loves flowers of every color!

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide, 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development. You’ll also get a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit.

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