Albert Anker

The painting shows a young girl sitting comfortably on a wooden chair and reading. Natural light falls through a window to the right illuminating the book, highlighting the details of the fabric of her dress and the texture of the wall in the background. The scene is simple but captivating, with a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Anker’s choice of a very soft color palette and precise painting technique make the painting very realistic. Reading is a recurring subject for the painter, who is famous for his portraits of everyday life. His paintings of Ins peasants reading newspapers and women from humble backgrounds reading testify to a social evolution in the consumption of written material in Switzerland, from a bourgeois privilege to an instrument of cultural and political emancipation.

There were a number of 19^th century guides to the education of girls, addressing the reading habits of young women. The guides were aimed at the middle and upper classes. Bourgeois parents frequently viewed their daughters’ reading activities with skepticism. Such a pursuit was to be limited to short periods, be entertaining, and educate the spirit. It was not to jeopardize women’s later roles as housewives and mothers. No wonder then, that none of Anker’s imagery features young women reading newspapers.