{"data":{"id":81512,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/81512","is_boosted":true,"title":"Interrupted Reading","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBAAFAPQAAE1BNk5DNlxGO1tPPl5SQmlcSnVeUGthVXZkVH1qVn1pWH5tW35xYIV1XYJ1Y4t7YpKBaZqHb5mIdKmbiAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAEAAUAAAURIAEEg7NIjIFMh5BAhRI9TQgAOw==","width":5197,"height":7384,"alt_text":"A  pensive faced woman sits, slightly hunched, holding a book."},"main_reference_number":"1922.410","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1865,"date_end":1875,"date_display":"c. 1870","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796\u20131875)","place_of_origin":"France","description":"<p><em>Interrupted Reading<\/em> is among the most compelling of Camille Corot\u2019s late figure paintings. Corot almost never exhibited these studies of the human form, preferring instead to publicize the idyllic landscapes that were his specialty. To emphasize the private nature of <em>Interrupted Reading<\/em>, Corot enclosed his model within the protective environment of the artist\u2019s studio. The mood of the painting is introspective and somewhat melancholic, the very essence of the Romantic sensibility. The muse-like image of a woman reading a book was a popular one in nineteenth-century art, but Corot chose to show his model pausing, looking up from this activity. Having spent a number of years in Italy and being a lover of everything Italian, the artist often furnished his models with Italianate costumes such as the one worn here. Whereas Corot\u2019s subject matter is traditional, his technique is not. With direct and bold brushwork, he explored the human form as a construction of masses that support and balance one another. This broad handling is complemented by the artist\u2019s obvious delight in detail\u2014the ribbon in the model\u2019s hair, the delicate earrings, the deep folds in the skirt. Here he combined a profound sense of formal structure with the dreamy softness and intimacy that characterize his most famous landscapes.<\/p>\n","short_description":"Corot rarely exhibited his late figure paintings like this compelling example, focusing instead on his idyllic landscapes. While here he chose a traditional subject\u2014the muse-like image of a woman reading a book\u2014Corot showed his model pausing and looking up. He also used unconventionally bold brushwork while still delighting in detail\u2014the ribbon in the model\u2019s hair, the delicate earrings, and the deep folds in the skirt.","dimensions":"92.5 \u00d7 65.1 cm (36 5\/16 \u00d7 25 5\/8 in.); Framed: 130.9 \u00d7 104.2 \u00d7 14 cm (51 1\/2 \u00d7 41 \u00d7 5 1\/2 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":65,"height":92,"diameter":null,"clarification":null},{"depth":14,"width":104,"height":130,"diameter":null,"clarification":"Framed"}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas, mounted on board","inscriptions":"Inscribed middle left: Corot","credit_line":"Potter Palmer Collection","catalogue_display":"<p>Robaut 1431<\/p>","publication_history":"Alfred Robaut, L\u2019oeuvre de Corot: catalogue raisonn\u00e9 et illustr\u00e9, pr\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9 de l\u2019histoire de Corot et de ses oeuvres vol. 3 (Paris, 1905), no. 1431 (ill.) (reprinted Paris 1965).\n\nJulius Meier-Graefe, Camille Corot (Munich 1913), p. 107.\n\nAugust F. Jaccaci, \u201cFigure Pieces of Corot in America: II,\u201d Art in America 2, 1(1914), pp. 3 (ill.), 5.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture and Paintings (Chicago, 1922), no. 811.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture and Paintings (Chicago, 1923), no. 811.\n\n\u201cCorots in The Art Institute,\u201d Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 18, 8 (1924), p. 102 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide of the Paintings in the Permanent Collection (Chicago, 1925), p. 131, no. 811.\n\nJulius Meier-Graefe, \u201cCorots Wahlspruch,\u201d Kunst und K\u00fcnstler 28 (1929), p. 51 (ill.).\n\nC. Bernheim de Villers, Corot: peintre de figures (Paris, 1930), no. 235 (ill.).\n\nJulius Meier-Graefe, Corot (Berlin, 1930), pl. 107.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide of the Paintings in the Permanent Collection (Chicago, 1932), p. 147, no. 22.410.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Collections (Chicago, 1935), p. 27 (ill.).\n\nGermain Bazin, \u201cCorot et son oeuvre,\u201d L\u2019Amour de l\u2019art 17, 11 (February 1936), fig. 70.\n\nMarie Delaroche-Vernet, \u201cSalles de l\u2019Orangerie: L\u2019Exposition Corot,\u201d Bulletin des Mus\u00e9es de France 7, 2 (February 1936), pp. 17 (ill.), 20. \n\nExposition Corot, exh. cat., introduction by Paul Jamot (Mus\u00e9e de Lyon, 1936), p. 18.\n\nAlexander Watt, \u201cNotes From Paris,\u201d Apollo 23, 136 (April 1936), p. 225.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Collections (Chicago, 1941), p. 33 (ill.).\n\nLionello Venturi, Peintres Modernes: Goy, Constable-David, Ingres-Delacroix-Corot, Daumier-Courbet (Paris, 1941), pp. 166, 169, fig. 110, English edition, New York, 1947, pp. 159-60, fig. 110.\n\nGermain Bazin, Corot (Paris, 1942), p. 107.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Collections (Chicago, 1945), p. 35 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Collections (Chicago, 1948), pp. 32, 33 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpiece of the Month: Notes and Bibliography, January-December 1949, p. 122.\n\nGermain Bazin, Corot (Paris, 1951), p. 112.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Guide to the Collections (Chicago, 1956), p. 33 (ill.), 35.\n\nDaniel Baud-Bovy, Corot (Geneva, 1957), p. 245.\n\nFran\u00e7ois Fosca, Corot: Sa vie et son oeuvre (Bruxelles, 1958), p. 138, ill.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961), pp. 86, 241 (ill.).\n\nJean Leymarie, French Painting: The Nineteenth Century, trans. by James Emmons (Cleveland, 1962), pp. 111 (ill.), 112.\n\nJean Leymarie, Corot: Biographical and Critical Study, trans. by Stuart Gilbert (Cleveland, 1966), p. 96.\n\nFrederick A. Sweet, \u201cGreat Chicago Collectors,\u201d Apollo 84 (September 1966), p. 191 (ill.).\n\nAlfred Werner, \u201cCorot: Serenity and Purity: Benefit at Wildenstein,\u201d Arts Magazine 44 (November 1969), p. 33 (ill.).\n\nJohn Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (New York, 1970), p. 69 (ill.).\n\nGermain Bazin, Corot (Paris, 1973), p. 271.\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, 100 Masterpieces (Chicago, 1978), p. 95, no. 52.\n\nJean Leymarie, Corot (New York, 1979), pp. 130-31 (ill.).\n\nJohn D. Morse, Paintings in North America: Over 3000 Masterpieces by 50 Great Artists (New York, 1979), p. 62.\n\nAntje Zimmermann, \u201cStudien zum Figurenbild bei Corot,\u201d Ph. D. diss. (University of Cologne, 1986), pp. 152, 351, fig. 44.\n\nRichard R. Brettell, French Salon Artists 1800-1900 (Chicago, 1987), pp. 92 (detail ill.), 93-94, 95 (ill.), 117.\n\nJean Selz, La vie et l\u2019oeuvre de Camille Corot (Paris, 1988), ill.\n\nJames N. Wood and Katharine C. Lee, Master Paintings in The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, 1988), p. 51 (ill.).\n\nJean Laymarie, Corot (Geneva, 1992), p. 154 (ill.).\n\nDeborah Solomon, \u201cThe Gallery: The Mist of Memories,\u201d The Wall Street Journal (October 25, 1996).\n\nJay A. Clarke, \u201cThe Abbot Jouveau, Curate of Coubron, 1875,\u201d Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 26, 1 (2000), p. 72.\n\nCorot: Naturlaleza, Emoci\u00f3n, Recuerdo, (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza), p. 265 (ill.), cat. 66.\n\nS\u00e9bastien Allard, Corot: the Painter and his Models, exh. cat. (Mus\u00e9e Marmottan Monet\/ \u00c9ditions Hazan, 2018), p. 150-154, 160, 176.","exhibition_history":"Paris, L\u2019Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Exposition de l\u2019Oeuvre de Corot, 1875, cat. 93.\n\nCambridge, Mass., Fogg Museum, Exhibition of French Paintings of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, March 6-April 6, 1929, cat. 12.\n\nNew York, Museum of Modern Art, Corot-Daumier: Eight Loan Exhibition, October 16-November 13, 1930, cat. 29 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1-November 1, 1933, cat. 231 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1-November 1, 1934, cat. 164. \n\nNew York, M. Knoedler & Co., Loan Exhibition of Figure and Landscape Paintings by J. B. C. Corot, November 12-December 1, 1934, cat. 20 (ill.).\n\nParis, Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019Orangerie, Corot, 1936, cat. 82 (ill.).\n\nPhiladelphia Museum of Art, Corot, 1796-1875, 1946, cat. 49 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, Corot, 1796-1875: An Exhibition of his Paintings and Graphic Work, October 6-November 13, 1960, cat. 99 (ill.).\n \nNew York, Wildenstein Gallery, Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings: Masterpieces: Memorial Exhibition for Adele Rosenwald Levy, April 6-May 7, 1961, cat. 32 (ill.). \n\nSarasota, Fla., Ringling Museum of Art, Palmer Family Collections: A Sections of Paintings and Drawings lent by the Family, by the Estate of Pauline K. Palmer and by the Art Institute of Chicago, Potter Palmer Collection, February 23-March 24, 1963, cat. 7 (ill.).\n\nEdinburgh Festival Society, Corot: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Prints, August 14-September 12, 1965, cat. 81 (ill.).\n\nNew York, Wildenstein & Co., Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Citizens\u2019 Committee for Children of New York, Inc: Romantic and Realists, April 7-May 7, 1966, cat. 15 (ill.).\n\nNew York, Wildenstein & Co., Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Citizens\u2019 Committee for Children of New York, Inc: Corot, October 30-December 6, 1969, cat. 63 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago, Art at the Time of the Centennial, June 19-August 9, 1976, extended to August 15, no cat.\n\nLeningrad [St. Petersburg], Hermitage Museum, Ot Delakrua do Matissa: shedevry frantsuzsko\u012d zhivopici XIX-nachala XX veka, iz Muieia Metropoliten v Niu-\u012corke i Khudozhestvennogo Instituta v Chikago [From Delacroix to Matisse: Great Paintings From the XIX century to the Beginning of the XXth century From Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago], March 15-May 19, 1988, cat. 2; Moscow, Pushkin Museum, June 10-July 30, 1988.\n\nParis, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Corot 1796-1875, February 27 \u2013 May 27, 1996, cat. 144; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, June 21- September 22, 1996; New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 22, 1996 \u2013 January 19, 1997.\n\nMadrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Corot: Naturaleza, Emocion, Recuerdo, June 7\u2013September 11, 2005, cat. 66.\n\nParis, Mus\u00e9e Marmottan Monet, Corot: the Painter and his Models, Feb. 8-July 8, 2018, cat. 41(ill).","provenance_text":"M. Jules de La Rochenoire (1825-1899), Paris by 1875 [see Paris 1875].  Alexandre Dumas fils, Paris by 1882; his sale, Paris, H\u00f4tel Drouot, February 16, 1882, lot 15, as La R\u00eaverie, figure, bought in for 2,450 francs; his sale, Paris, H\u00f4tel Drouot, May 12-13, 1892, lot 24, as La R\u00eaverie, sold for 4,300 francs to Durand-Ruel, Paris [stock no. 2212, according to Paris, Ottawa, New York 1996]; sold for 20,000 francs to Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer, Chicago, on May 17, 1892; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1922.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":14,"fiscal_year":1922,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":20.3095,"color":{"h":44,"l":86,"s":31,"percentage":0.003564659961145207,"population":36},"latitude":41.8797671664459,"longitude":-87.6232948723526,"latlon":"41.879767166446,-87.623294872353","is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 224","gallery_id":2147483604,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Painting and Sculpture of Europe","department_id":"PC-10","artist_id":34035,"artist_title":"Jean Baptiste Camille Corot","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[34035],"artist_titles":["Jean Baptiste Camille Corot"],"category_ids":["PC-10","PC-831"],"category_titles":["Painting and Sculpture of Europe","Essentials"],"term_titles":["painting","19th century","oil painting","oil paint (paint)","interiors","paint","oil on canvas","paint","painting","painting","painting techniques","costume","portrait","portraits: European subject","portraits: female subject","painting (image making)","canvas","european painting","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs","hairstyles","fashion","dresses","books","women"],"style_id":"TM-13203","style_title":"19th century","alt_style_ids":[],"style_ids":["TM-13203"],"style_titles":["19th century"],"classification_id":"TM-9","classification_title":"painting","alt_classification_ids":["TM-10387","TM-66","TM-54"],"classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-10387","TM-66","TM-54"],"classification_titles":["painting","paint","oil on canvas","european painting"],"subject_id":"TM-12285","alt_subject_ids":["TM-13005","TM-14105","TM-8597","TM-8582","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176","TM-12562","TM-8663","TM-12529","TM-12453","TM-8735"],"subject_ids":["TM-12285","TM-13005","TM-14105","TM-8597","TM-8582","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176","TM-12562","TM-8663","TM-12529","TM-12453","TM-8735"],"subject_titles":["interiors","costume","portrait","portraits: European subject","portraits: female subject","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs","hairstyles","fashion","dresses","books","women"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-2577","TM-13502","TM-3124"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-2577","TM-13502","TM-3124"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","paint","painting","canvas"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-14210","TM-3971","TM-3891"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-14210","TM-3971","TM-3891"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting","painting techniques","painting (image making)"],"theme_titles":["Essentials"],"image_id":"1c2d32a7-790c-501a-e124-00f28cf5052d","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Interrupted Reading","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1922.410"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Interrupted Reading"],"weight":16427,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-08-12T11:21:09-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-25T13:18:23-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-28T05:36:49-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.16"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}