Six Paintings Celebrating Reading on World Book Day

Key facts

• World Book Day is celebrated on April 23 since 1995, chosen by UNESCO to mark the death anniversaries of Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and William Wordsworth.
• Antonello da Messina's 'Virgin Annunciate' (1476) was misattributed to Albrecht Dürer until 1906, when Cavaliere Di Giovanni donated it to the Museo Nazionale.
• Jean-Honoré Fragonard's 'A Young Girl Reading' (1769) is part of 'The Fantasy Figures' series and is the only piece where the subject does not face the viewer.
• Charles Edward Perugini's 'Girl Reading' (1878) shows a woman on a marble bench, inspired by his wife, and he was a studio assistant to Sir Frederic Leighton.
• Vincent van Gogh's 'Piles of French Novels' (1887) is an homage to modern French literature; he wrote to his brother Theo about reading's importance.
• Fernand Léger's 'Woman with a Book' (1923) features bold colors and geometric forms, reflecting post-WWI ideals of beauty and knowledge.
• Jacob Lawrence's 'The Library' (1960) is part of the Harlem Series, depicting people reading about their heritage; Lawrence regularly borrowed books from libraries.
• The paintings are held by: Galleria Regionale della Sicilia (Palermo), National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Manchester Art Gallery, Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), Museum of Modern Art (New York), and Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC).