She is absorbed, content, perhaps quietly thrilled. She might be seizing a precious moment to take comfort in a book, or she might be searching its pages for a means to transform her life. A book can create a whole world in which to lose oneself, and these paintings accomplish the same effect. Just as the reading woman is lost in a story and separated from her lifes narrative, so can the viewer briefly leave her own life and enter that of the painting. The sanctuary provided by these twelve paintingsby Gustave Caillebotte, douard Vuillard, Edgar Degas, and nine other prominent artistsis enhanced by quotations about the pleasures of reading.
