I feel like I've mostly been absent online for the last week or so, and now it's the Thanksgiving holiday, so I'll be spending time with my family. I do plan on getting caught up with blog reading and emails in the next few days since I've got a long weekend ahead of me, but it's probably going to be quiet here this weekend. So I'll leave you something pretty to look at while I'm away.
It's been a while since I've shared any of my bookish postcards. This first one isn't book-related, but it is nicely autumnal. It came from a Postcrosser in the Netherlands. Although our weather here has been very fine for the last few days (unseasonably so, and I'm not complaining!), I don't expect it to last. I think by next week I'll be reaching for a blanket and something warm to drink as well (or eat--the cup seems to contain some sort of fish soup?--I'll settle for hot chocolate or tea, I think).
I love Edward Hopper's work in general, but I especially love this painting, "Compartment C, Car 193" from 1938. It's cool traveling by train and wish it was something we did more of in the U.S. There's something very romantic and leisurely about it.
This is "Repose" by John White Alexander from 1895. Alexander was an American painter. When I first saw this image I was sure I was unfamiliar with his work, but as it turns out there are several of his paintings that I'd come across before. It looks like he has other reading women as subjects for his paintings. Quite an elegant image, which I like very much.
I bet this might be familiar to a few of you. A friend traveled to England and sent me several bookish postcards including this one of Duke Humfrey's Library, which is the oldest reading room in the Bodleian Library in Oxford University.
I'm afraid I can't find any information about this painting. The card lists it as "Lezend meisje (Sàrika)" by Ada Góth ca. 1912/14. It looks like a nice spring day--perfect reading weather for sitting out on the balcony.
Someday I'd love to see Jane Austen's Bath. These are views of the city, but unfortunately the card doesn't give specifics. I wonder if any of these contain the famed pump room? Persuasion, which is set in part in Bath, is my favorite Austen novel. I can easily imagine Anne Elliot walking down those streets.
How fitting that I should have a postcard of a painting called "A Russian Folk Tale" by Leonid and Olga Tikhomirov since I've been reading fairy tales. The painting is dated 1967-72. Another sunny place to curl up with a book. I hope I can find a sunny spot to sit and read this weekend.
This is "Madame de Pompadour (Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, 1721-1764)" by Francois Boucher. I wonder what she would have been reading? She seems awfully distracted. Imagine having to sit about in all those frills! (Maybe that's why she can't concentrate--her dress is scratchy?).
If you're celebrating Thanksgiving--many good wishes however you're spending your day. And I hope everyone finds at least a few hours of leisurely reading (in some sunny corner) to fill their weekend. Happy reading everyone.