Bedtime Stories

James Jebusa Shannon, “Jungle Tales” (1895)

I am a little busy this month, so in lieu of a full blog post I thought I would include a few fin de siècle paintings of children listening to bedtime stories. (Storytime has been a theme for painters since the Romantic era.)

Each of these pieces has the children looking head-on at the viewer, to convey emotional intensity and underscore the lights and shadows of an immersive, imaginative world. Each also captures the material comforts of nineteenth-century domesticity, from quilts and curtains to dolls and nightgowns.

Seymour Joseph Guy, “Story of Golden Locks” (1870)

Stories are deeply formative exchanges between adults and children, and as our public schools continue to be riven by grandstanding and (consequently) continue to hollow out their curriculum, it becomes more important than ever for parents to read quality literature, the books that most move them, to their children.

Maybe these paintings will inspire someone out there to pick up a classic tonight!

(This last one will be familiar to viewers of my left calf…)

George Dunlop Leslie, “Alice in Wonderland” (1879)