Woman at the Window

Woman at the Window. A painting motif over the centuries. Why? Here are a 5 possible explanations and some examples:

• Composition: A woman looking out of a window is an arresting frame within a frame.  It draws the viewer into the painting through both the window as defining design element creating a sense of depth and perspective,  and the viewer’s desire to understand the implied mystery, even to walk over to the window and see for themselves. What is she looking at? Why? The window also focuses the viewer’s attention on the subject. The window and the woman become everything. Anything else in the room is just "window dressing." :)

• Symbolism-- of longing and contemplation. We don’t know precisely what is longed for but the frustrations and fantasies embodied in the domestic sphere across many centuries suggest possibilities. The paintings are touchstones for each painter's time— glimpses into the changing meaning of  "inside/outside" of the mind and the home.  

• Emotions: In the paintings from earlier centuries, it is easy to project on the women troubling  emotions such as sadness, loneliness, or in some cases, despair, and madness... as in the case of the painting by Vuillard's "Marie Opening the Window" shown  below.  In paintings since the late 1800’s, the interior spaces have become more welcoming to the woman and to the viewer: “Come join her, she’s taking respite here, and even enjoying quiet moments. Sit here and share.” The viewer can take comfort in the comfortable settings, on this side of the window with the subject. The viewer is an intimate part of the painting as a visitor, friend, confidant, lover, or voyeur.

• Tradition: Common themes in art history often call out to each new generation: make your mark on this canvas and say something that has not been said on this timeless topic!

• Personal experience: An artist’s own story may find a special place in these canvases. I recently painted a young independent professional woman in her Manhattan Chelsea apartment, looking out massive bright windows onto the Highline and contemplating her next adventure. This reflects my memories of living in Manhattan and the pleasure of living in a modern world where women are more powerful and living in happiness perhaps more than ever before. I have daughters and I’m so glad there are new worlds of opportunity opening all the time.

Please let me know what you think and especially if I missed some important paintings. All but two of these are from the interior POV. Exterior POV is another topic. Exterior POVs are almost always more active. The two here are included because of their arresting qualities. Enjoy  

Johannes Vermeer, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1657

Rembrant, Girl at a Window, 1645

Gabriel Metsu, Woman Reading a Letter, 1665

George Sanders, Elizabeth, 5th Duchess of Rutland, 1815

Frans Vervloet, Woman at Window, 1816

Casper David Friedrich, Woman at the Window, 1822

Karl Bryullov, Italian Woman with a Child By a Window, 1831

Jacobus Vrel, A Seated Woman Looking at a Child Through A Window, 1850s

Edgar Degas, Woman at a Window,1872

Theodore Jacques Ralli, Woman at a Window, 1879

Mary Cassatte, Woman by a Window Feeding Her Dog, 1880

Vincent Van Gogh, Woman Peeling Potatoes Near a Window, 1881

Vincent Van Gogh, Woman at the Window, Knitting,1882

Vilhelm Hammershøi, An Old Woman Standing by a Window, 1885

Paul Gauguin, Young Woman at the Window,1888

Edward Munch, The Girl by the Window, 1893

Edouard Vuillard, Marie Opening the Window, 1893

Gotthardt Kuehl, The Lübecker Orphanage, 1894

William Treog, Woman by the Window, 1895

George Albert Thompson, Woman Looking out a Window 1895

Gotthardt Kuehl, The Garden Room, 1897

Pierre Bonnard, Young Woman Before the Window, 1898

20th Century

Gotthardt Kuehl, The Letter, (~1900s)

Marius Borgeaud, Young Woman Reading at the Window, (~1900)

Peter Vilhelm  Ilsted, A Woman Knitting by a Window, 1902

Maurice Marinot, Sewing Woman, 1904

Walter Richard Sickert, Woman Seated at Window, 1908

David Bomberg, Woman Looking Through a Window, 1912

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Woman at the Window with a View of Nice, 1918

David Bomberg, At the Window, 1919

Ethel Sands, Figure Seated by an Open Window (~1910s)

Frederick Carl Frieseke, Siesta, 1917

Henri Matisse, Young Woman at the Window, Sunset, 1921

Ethel Sands, Figure Seated by an Open Window (~1920s)

Fernand Wery, Young Woman by the Window, 1922

Salvador Dali, Figure at the Window, 1925

Salvidor Dali, Woman at the Window in Figueras, 1926

Richard E. Miller, Woman by a Window, (Early 20th)

Edward Hopper, Room in Brooklyn, 1932

Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur De Merpres, Women in a Balinese Interior, 1932

Pablo Picasso, Woman by the Window, 1936

Ivon Hitchens, Woman Seated at a Window, 1939

Edward Redfield, The South Window, 1941

Mai Trung Thu, Woman by the Window, 1952

Edward Hopper, Morning Sun, 1952

Richard Diebenkorn Woman in a Window, 1957

Richard Diebenkorn, Woman in Profile, 1958

David Hockney, The Tower Had One Window, 1969

Alex Katz, East Interior, 1979

Herb Fillmore III, Woman at Window, 2022