The Novel Reader

Van Gogh's 1888 painting of a novel reader, made at Arles, belongs to his series of figure paintings in which individuals are shown absorbed in private activity — reading, writing, or working. The figure reading a yellow-covered novel (Arles was associated with cheap popular fiction in his letters) is observed with the non-intrusive attention of someone watching genuine absorption. Van Gogh associated reading with intellectual companionship, and his letters to Theo are full of literary references. This painting, currently in a private collection, is a relatively unusual interior figure subject from the predominantly landscape-focused Arles period.

The figure absorbed in reading is rendered with careful attention to the posture of concentration — bowed head, hands holding the book. Van Gogh's Arles palette brings warm interior light to the scene. The yellow book cover is a chromatic note characteristic of his Arles fascination with that color. Brushwork is relatively controlled and descriptive for the figure.