airportkid

Cleaning out the attic I found a pile of old picture puzzle pieces lying next to one of the rafters that had probably fallen out the bottom of an ancient storage box. The house was built in 1912 and the pieces looked about the same age; intrigued, I cleared off the kitchen table and assembled as much as I was able to find (a task that wound up taking many hours and attracted help from friends: there was no guide at all to what the image was as we pieced it together).

Amazingly, there were few orphan pieces when we got done (pieces that didn't attach to the main assembly), although nearly a third of the puzzle is missing. And there's definitiely enough to ID the painting, although any signature on the painting is lost to the missing pieces.

But what painting is it? A search of such terms as "Girl Reading", "Girl in a Blue Dress", "Girl In A Purple Dress" etc. turns up many images, none of which are anything close to this image.

Anyone out there have any ideas?

Judy Decker

Greetings,

The subject reminded me of the artist, Jean Honore Fragonard. I did look up his work (several works with women reading --one I am most familiar with is "Girl Reading"). While the theme and time period may be the same, I don't think this is one of his works. His style is more painterly with more dramatic lighting.

Best wishes in your search.

Judy Decker