Description
The Novel Reader is a painting Vincent van Gogh made in Arles in 1888 of a woman absorbed in a book: seen in profile and turned to our left, her very dark hair pinned up, a broad green bodice over her shoulders and dark red sleeves, she holds an open yellow book close to her face, against a yellow background with shelves of books on the right. The original, oil on canvas, measures 73 x 92 cm and is in a private collection. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 16 sizes from 50 x 40 to 180 x 142 cm or to your own measurements, and send you a photograph of the finished painting for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | The Novel Reader |
| Other titles: | Woman Reading a Novel · Une liseuse de romans |
| Painter: | Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) |
| Year painted: | 1888, Arles |
| Original size: | 73 cm x 92 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Post-Impressionism |
| Located at: | Private collection |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 16 sizes or made to measure |
The Novel Reader – Vincent van Gogh
What does The Novel Reader show?
A woman sits reading, seen from the side, turned to our left and cut off at her lap, her head bent low over the book. Her hair, painted almost black with touches of deep red, is drawn up into a full knot on top of her head. Her face is greenish with a small red mouth, and a dark line runs round the whole figure. Over her shoulders and chest lies the broad green bodice, painted in long, smooth strokes of turquoise, and below it the sleeves are a dark wine red. Her lap is almost black.
She holds the book open close to her face. One hand supports it from below on the left, the other rests its fingers on the open page, with a pale green cuff at the wrist. The cover is bright yellow. The background is yellow, greenish in places, laid in loose, fluid strokes. In the top left corner there is a round yellow shape like a lamp, thin orange vertical lines run down the left side, and pale horizontal strokes at the lower left suggest the edge of a table. On the right, behind her back, tall shelves hold rows of books with red, yellow and green spines between orange-yellow uprights.
What did Van Gogh write to his sister about this painting?
In his letter to his sister Willemien, written in Arles on or about 12 November 1888, he tells her: ‘I’ve now also painted a woman reading a novel. Abundant very black hair, a green bodice, sleeves the colour of wine lees, the skirt black, the background completely yellow, library shelves with books. She’s holding a yellow book in her hand.’
Every element of that description can be found on the canvas. The editors of the letters identify the painting as F 497 / JH 1632, oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm, painted in 1888. As the letter dates from about 12 November, the canvas was finished by then.
What does the yellow book stand for?
The editors of Van Gogh’s letters give a plain answer: the yellow book stands for modern French literature, because inexpensive editions of it had yellow covers.
The same letter shows that brother and sister shared these books. Van Gogh writes to Willemien that it is good she has at last begun to read Au Bonheur des Dames, and that there is so much in it, as there is in Guy de Maupassant. Yet the editors quote her own letter of 19 October, in which she had already written that she had finished it: ‘Oh, how superb it is!’
Where is the original today?
The original is in a private collection, as the editors of Van Gogh’s letters record it. It is oil on canvas, 73 cm high and 92 cm wide, and in the catalogues of his work it carries the numbers F 497 and JH 1632.
The small sketch he drew for his sister is in Amsterdam. According to the Van Gogh Museum’s record of the letter sketch, it is pen and ink on paper, on the back of the letter sheet, 21.1 x 26.9 cm, and belongs to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).
The Novel Reader or another painting from Arles – which should you choose?
Its closest companions in our range were all painted in Arles. L’Arlésienne is a portrait of Madame Ginoux of Arles, seated at a table with books. The Night Café shows the inside of a night café in Arles with a billiard table under hanging lamps. Café Terrace at Night shows the lit terrace of a café in Arles under a starry evening sky, and Bedroom in Arles shows his own room there in strong, flat colours.
Choose The Novel Reader for a single figure lost in a book, in yellows and greens, for a study or a reading corner. Choose L’Arlésienne for a seated portrait with books, The Night Café or Café Terrace at Night for the town after dark, and Bedroom in Arles for an interior without figures.
How is our hand-painted Novel Reader made?
The painter first draws the bowed profile, the shoulders and the open book, and checks the proportions against the original. Then come the yellow background and the shelves with their coloured spines, after them the green bodice in long strokes, the wine-red sleeves and the dark lap, then the hands and the yellow book, and last the face, the knot of hair and the dark outlines that hold the figure together. Our oil painting reproduction is painted by hand on canvas, with real impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas as they do in the original and catch the light.
On our version the relief shows most in the long strokes of the green bodice, in the knot of hair and in the loose strokes of the background. A print is completely flat; on our painting every brushstroke stands out in real paint.
Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are quite the same.
Which size for which wall?
Short answer: 50 x 40 or 60 x 50 cm for a narrow wall in a hallway or beside a bookcase, 92 x 73 or 100 x 80 cm above a chest of drawers, a desk or a bed, and 150 x 120 or 160 x 127 cm above a sofa or on a large wall.
There are 16 sizes: 50 x 40, 60 x 50, 70 x 55, 80 x 60, 85 x 67, 92 x 73, 100 x 80, 105 x 85, 110 x 90, 120 x 100, 130 x 102, 140 x 105, 150 x 120, 160 x 127, 170 x 134 and 180 x 142 cm (width x height), all landscape like the original. The original is 92 cm wide and 73 cm high, so our 92 x 73 cm size is exactly its size, and 160 x 127, 180 x 142 and 85 x 67 cm stay very close to its proportions. The yellows and greens look best on a white, cream or light grey wall. A painting for the living room should cover about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it.
Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor. Above a sofa, a bed or a sideboard, leave 20 to 30 cm between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the canvas.
What if I need a custom size or a frame?
If none of the 16 sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure in any width and height you need. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote you a price and a delivery time. Every painting we make is mounted on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang.
Our 3D app shows each of our frame profiles on this painting, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood. The app is for choosing the frame only. To see the painting on your own wall, use our separate room placement service. A gold frame picks up the yellow book and the yellow background, while a black or dark wood one echoes the dark outlines and the black skirt.
How does delivery work, and what is the guarantee?
Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it on its stretcher, carefully packed (and framed, if you chose a frame), across the EU with no customs duty. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting to approve. Our returns policy applies to every order.
You will find more of Van Gogh’s famous works among all our Vincent van Gogh paintings, and more about the painter in our article on Vincent van Gogh. If it is a present and you are not sure of the size, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Novel Reader today?
In a private collection, as the editors of Van Gogh’s letters record it. The painting is oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm, catalogued as F 497 and JH 1632. The small pen sketch of the same composition, which Van Gogh drew on the back of a letter to his sister Willemien, belongs to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).
When did Van Gogh paint The Novel Reader?
In Arles in 1888, by the middle of November. In a letter to his sister Willemien, written on or about 12 November 1888, he tells her that he has now also painted a woman reading a novel, and describes her hair, her clothes and the yellow book.
Who is the woman in The Novel Reader?
It is not known who she is. In his letter to Willemien, Van Gogh does not name her: he calls her simply a woman reading a novel and describes only what she looks like, her abundant very black hair, the green bodice, the sleeves the colour of wine lees and the black skirt. On the canvas her face is turned down towards the book.
What does the yellow book in The Novel Reader mean?
According to the editors of Van Gogh’s letters, the yellow book stands for modern French literature, because inexpensive editions had yellow covers. In the same letter in which he describes the painting, he is glad that his sister has begun to read the novel Au Bonheur des Dames, and he mentions Guy de Maupassant.
Did Van Gogh make a sketch of The Novel Reader?
Yes. On the back of his letter to Willemien of around 12 November 1888 he drew a small pen-and-ink sketch of the composition. The editors of the letters note that he made it after the painting. The sheet, 21.1 x 26.9 cm, belongs to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation), while the painting is in a private collection.
How big is the original Novel Reader?
73 cm high and 92 cm wide, a landscape format of medium size. Our 92 x 73 cm size is exactly the size of the original. There are 16 sizes from 50 x 40 to 180 x 142 cm, all in landscape format, and we also paint it to measure in any proportion you need.
Which size of The Novel Reader suits a living room?
Above a sofa, choose 150 x 120 or 160 x 127 cm, so that the canvas painting holds its own against the width of the sofa and the yellow book reads clearly from across the room. On a narrower wall or above a sideboard, 92 x 73 or 100 x 80 cm works well. For a very large wall, choose our largest size, 180 x 142 cm.
Does your Novel Reader have the raised brushstrokes of the original?
Yes. We paint the reader in impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas as on Van Gogh’s original. You see it best in the long strokes of the green bodice, in the knot of dark hair and in the loose strokes of the yellow background, where the relief catches the light from the side.
- Subject: a woman in profile, turned to our left, reading a yellow book: very dark hair pinned up, a green bodice, wine-red sleeves, a dark skirt, and shelves of books against a yellow background.
- Original: 1888, Arles, oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm, private collection; described by Van Gogh in a letter to his sister around 12 November 1888.
- Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 16 sizes from 50 x 40 to 180 x 142 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: each painting is made to order, so allow 15 to 45 days, and our 3D app lets you try every frame on this painting before you order.
