Style Imitating Art | “Interrupted Reading” by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Terri of MeadowTree Style, and Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as curator, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the curator by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the curator will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join! You are invited to share your images on Instagram or other social media platforms. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Terri, and Shelbee or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

The Inspiration Artwork

The inspiration artwork was chosen by Terri. You can read why she picked this work here.

The Artwork

“Interrupted Reading” by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

About the Artist: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, known simply as Camille Corot, was a French etching printmaker and landscape and portrait artist. He was born on July 16, 1796, in Paris, the second of three children to a bourgeoisie couple. His father, Louis-Jacques Corot, was a French wigmaker, and his mother, Marie-Françoise Corot, was one of the most fashionable milliners in her trade during the first decades of the 19th century. Her business was so successful that her husband discontinued his own wig making business in 1798 to handle the economic side of his wife’s business.

Because of his parents affinity for business and successful investment strategies, Camille grew up with economic and financial security, never wanting for much, which was a much different experience compared to many of his artistic colleagues and peers. Although he received a scholarship to study at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen, Corot was not a brilliant student and eventually withdrew to attend a boarding school instead.

During his first 19 years of life, Corot never expressed any interest or talents in art. But in 1815, while staying with his father’s friend, Mr. Sennegon, the two would go on nature walks together. These walks inspired his first landscape and nature paintings. In 1817, at the age of 21, Corot established his first studio in the third floor dormer-windowed room of his parents’ new residence. For the next 5 years, he apprenticed as a draper but despised commercial life, eventually “divorcing” the business world to adopt art as his profession. Following the death of his sister in 1822, Corot began receiving an annual allowance of 1500 francs which financed his new career, his studio, his art materials, and his travel for the rest of his life.

Once Corot had the means necessary to devote himself entirely to his art, landscape painting was the growing trend in the art world. It was divided into two camps, Neoclassicism and Realism. Not choosing sides, Corot incorporated both styles, sometimes simultaneously, into his landscape work throughout his entire career.

Corot was hugely successful among artists, collectors, and critics, but many of them believed he was under appreciated. So in 1874, just a few months before his death, Corot’s friends presented him with a gold medal to recognize his contributions to the art world. He died from complications of a stomach disorder on February 22, 1875. He was 78 years old.

I am going leave off here and cheat because I’m sick and the Covid brain fog is real. Go read Marsha’s post for a wonderful summary of Corot’s life and work!

About the Art: Interrupted Reading

Interrupted Reading is an oil on canvas mounted on a board which was painted between 1865 and 1875. It measures 92.5 × 65.1 cm (36 5/16 × 25 5/8 in.) The painting has a really interesting provenance.

It was first owned by M. Jules de La Rochenoire (1825-1899) of Paris who sold it to French author Alexandre Dumas fils on February 16, 1882, for 2,450 francs. On May 12 or 13, 1892, Dumas sold the painting for 4,300 francs to Durand-Ruel who turned around and sold it a few days later, on May 17, 1892, to Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer of Chicago, Illinois, for 20,000 francs. It was bequeathed by the Potter Palmer Collection to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922.

Description of the art by The Art Institute of Chicago:

“Interrupted Reading is among the most compelling of Camille Corot’s 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 Interrupted Reading, Corot enclosed his model within the protective environment of the artist’s 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’s 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’s obvious delight in detail—the ribbon in the model’s 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.”

The Art Institute of Chicago

Resources/References:

• Interrupted Reading: Art Institute of Chicago
• Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot: Wikipedia
• Marie-Françoise Corot: Wikipedia

About My Outfit

As much as I love the soothing and somber nature of the neutral colors in the artwork, these are not abundant hues in my wardrobe. I leaned on this old reliable blush tulle skirt which I recently styled for another SIA challenge. In fact, I nearly replicated that entire outfit with the same black turtleneck and velvet obi belt but changed my mind in favor of a white blouse instead. Since the woman in the painting has a white top with a black sash over a light tan skirt, I felt this combination more closely resembled her dress.

I wore my wedding boots because the tall lace up style seemed like the style of shoe the woman may have been wearing. I topped off my outfit with this beautiful moody poncho that my mother-in-law just gave to me for Christmas. And because the woman in the portrait is wearing a headband, I decided on this big poofy thing that Jeff calls my “loofah headband”.

I was pleased with the outcome of this challenge although this one was just purely a game of dress up. I am slowly recovering from the lingering fatigue of Covid, feeling a little more energy with each passing day. At least I felt pretty for a brief moment in my back yard during this two week confinement!

If you enjoyed my sartorial interpretation of this artwork, be sure to also check out Terri’s interpretation of the artwork as well as Salazar’s take on it. If you would like to participate in this challenge and have your photo included in Terri’s final round up post on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, be sure to email your photos to her at meadowtreestyle@gmail.com by 10:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. I look forward to seeing your creative styles. 

If you want to join us for these art inspired challenges in the new year, we will be back on January 8, 2024, with our next artwork. It is my turn to choose! Also, since Terri is retiring as co-host, we will be looking for someone to fill her spot. If you are up to the task, please let us know! And stay healthy!

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Skirt-Kohl’s / Top-Zara (Thrifted) / Poncho-Christmas Gift / Boots-Steve Madden / Belt-Torrid / Tights, Earrings, Necklaces, Headband-Old