Someday I would love to have enough bookshelves to accommodate all of my books (and books yet to be found), with a cozy chair, a little table to hold a cup of tea, and a collection of beautifully framed photos of girls reading...
• I don't think I've ever seen a Marilyn Monroe movie, but I have such a soft spot for all the photos of her reading. She looks so young and vulnerable and happy, a girl I'd like to be book-lovin' friends with. I once read that Marilyn always preferred to spend her money on books rather than jewelry. That's pretty endearing. The first image is the one that got me thinking of a "girls reading" collection when I saw it in a magazine years ago — I tore the page out and have it somewhere, just waiting to be framed. The second image is actually available for sale, starting at $99.
• "The Magdalen Reading" by Rogier Van Der Weyden is one of my favorite paintings from one of my favorite periods in art history. I've carried the image of Mary reading peacefully with me for the ten years since finishing my studies, and only recently decided to look it up. It's for sale! Prints start at only £15 through the National Gallery.
• Last, but far from least, there's Parker Posey as reluctant-but-gifted librarian in Party Girl. I actually can't quite tell what's in her hands (books, stamp pads?) in this movie still, but as she's surrounded by books, it's good enough for me. What a gal, that Parker Posey.
Images: 1. & 3. Belle's Bookshelf,2. "Marilyn Monroe Reading at Home" by Alfred Eisenstaedt from Allposters.com, 4. "The Magdalen Reading" by Rogier Van Der Weyden from The National Gallery UK, 5. Katie Miller's Pinterest
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you would like this tumblr:
http://womenreading.tumblr.com/
Picture #5 - I think those are 3x5 notecards or perhaps cards for the card catalog. Great post!
I'd also check out the exhibit "André Kertész: On Reading," should you find yourself in Pittsburgh: http://web.cmoa.org/?page_id=312 . Kertész took photos of people reading over a period of fifty years. They show people all around the world in very different contexts. It's super cool!
It looks like Audrey Hepburn is reading a script.
I've used part of the "Magdalene Reading" image (from a 1950s postcard) in a collage (which has been sold), but am continuing to do a lot of work with the concept of women as readers, past and present. Thanks for sharing these images!
Great idea! You would feel like you're in the library or in a study group with these pictures surrounding you. Kinda cool!
I can't help it - but, ahem, every one of those images seems to show a woman reading, not a girl.
I've got to toot the horn of Southern CA watercolorist/printer Belinda Del Pesco
http://us.mg3.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch
who does the most serene, intimate images of people reading, as well as regularly updates a totally approachable art blog and etsy store. (no, I don't know her, I really am just a great fan!)
love this post. love party girl too!
Um....Parker Posey is NOT reading in that photo.
I'm in love with that idea!! And imagine passing that collection on to your daughter someday.
I love the photo of Marilyn Monroe in a wool sweater reading Ulysses. A friend of mine gave me a copy of Ulysses with a postcard of that image as a bookmark.
Now is probably a great time to get into collecting books. As someone who works for a university library I can tell you that they are rushing to remove books as quickly as possible and in many cases those books are going directly into the dumpster. At the rate things are going books are destined to join vinyl records and 8-tracks as things still utilized by a small dedicated core but mostly just collected for the fact that they are quaint and represent old ways of doing things.
LOVE the picture of Marilyn in jeans. Would love to have that one framed somewhere on my walls. ANY ideas where to find that it as a print?
And Lemondrop, great find with the tumblr :)
Grace Kelly, 2 seconds via Google:
http://bellesbookshelf.blogspot.com/2011/07/reading-icons-grace-kelly.html
What a fabulous idea for a collection! I'm going to be obsessed with that tumblr now. Thanks for the inspiration!
My favorite Marilyn Monroe quote is: "I read poetry because it saves time."
Yes, really.
Seriously? I think we should all grab an item from our home that is the subject of a "collecting" post here on AT and mail it to the editor. This is a dream art collection? Stop. Stop scraping the bottom of the barrel.