The theme of reading was the subject of several paintings by the artist, thus representing an important role in his work. The painter chose for models Victoria Dubourg, also an artist and his future wife, who sits on the left of the canvas with her hand following her reading on a book, and her sister, Charlotte Dubourg. Between both sisters stands on a table a vase of flowers. On the right, the enigmatic figure of Charlotte stares intently at the viewer. This appears often in the painter's works, and it has led to the speculation of a "silent complicity" between the two.
The painting is a superb example of the talent of Fantin-Latour in the representation of intimate spaces, in a sober style, with a realistic outlook, and revealing to the observer his preferred universe, a silent, poetic and dreamy environment, with vaguely melancholic outlines.[1]
A significant aspect of the composition is the inner isolation that appears to distance the two sisters, despite their proximity. The contrast between the illuminated surface and the darkest area of the painting, where the two women are positioned, accentuates the ambiguity that the viewer can feel between proximity and distance, giving the scene the suggestion of a contained opposition, also shown in other of the artist paintings.[2][3]
