Julie's Review: The Muralist

Author: B.A. Shapiro
Series: None
Publication Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Pages: 352
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Intriguing look at mental illness and art
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary:  When Alizée Benoit, a young American painter working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), vanishes in New York City in 1940, no one knows what happened to her. Not her Jewish family living in German-occupied France. Not her arts patron and political compatriot, Eleanor Roosevelt. Not her close-knit group of friends and fellow WPA painters, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. And, some seventy years later, not her great-niece, Danielle Abrams, who, while working at Christie’s auction house, uncovers enigmatic paintings hidden behind works by those now famous Abstract Expressionist artists. Do they hold answers to the questions surrounding her missing aunt?   Entwining the lives of both historical and fictional characters, and moving between the past and the present, The Muralist plunges readers into the divisiveness of prewar politics and the largely forgotten plight of European refugees refused entrance to the United States. It captures both the inner workings of New York’s art scene and the beginnings of the vibrant and quintessentially American school of Abstract Expressionism.  As she did in her bestselling novel The Art Forger, B. A. Shapiro tells a gripping story while exploring provocative themes. In Alizée and Danielle she has created two unforgettable women, artists both, who compel us to ask: What happens when luminous talent collides with unstoppable historical forces? Does great art have the power to change the world? ~amazon.com


Review: While The Muralist floats back and forth between the late 1930s and early 1940s and present day, it really is Alizee's story even if Dani makes appearances. What I found intriguing was how manic Alizee got when she was being creative. What I found fascinating was how some scientists have linked mental illness with creative people. I have made a note to investigate this a bit further. I was hoping for a deeper look into the beginning of the abstract movement and those who were involved but they were really cursory to Alizee's story. It was about her journey to help those that were being affected by Nazi Germany, including those in her family.

Her great-niece is the one who starts to uncover the link between Alizee and the great abstract artists of America.  Dani has always been extremely curious about her great-aunt after her grand-pere especially because he had some of her paintings. So when she discovers what she thinks are part of her great-aunt's painting, she goes into obsessive mode, seeking out anything that will connect her.

Most of the novel is told through Alizee's eyes with Dani's point of view filling in the gaps. What we find is an extremely talented  young artist who starts to suffer from the stress of worrying about  her family is Nazi occupied France. As the war gets worse, Alizee starts to lose her control on reality but her painting is inspired as she takes current events to heart.

I always find it interesting how the artistic community is very small and intertwined especially during the beginning of great art movements. How they develop bonds and feed off of each others abilities and inspirations can mean that a lot of their art is similar in likeness.

While I enjoyed the mystery of what happened to Alizee but the ending was fairly easy to figure out.  This is a great novel but in my opinion Art Forger is a stronger novel. If you haven't read that one, then you must start there.



 Google+

Julie's Review: The Art Forger

Summary: On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art worth today over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye. Claire makes her living reproducing famous works of art for a popular online retailer. Desperate to improve her situation, she lets herself be lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting—one of the Degas masterpieces stolen from the Gardner Museum—in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when the long-missing Degas painting—the one that had been hanging for one hundred years at the Gardner—is delivered to Claire’s studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery. Claire’s search for the truth about the painting’s origins leads her into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late nineteenth century may be the only evidence that can now save her life. B. A. Shapiro’s razor-sharp writing and rich plot twists make The Art Forger an absorbing literary thriller that treats us to three centuries of forgers, art thieves, and obsessive collectors. it’s a dazzling novel about seeing—and not seeing—the secrets that lie beneath the canvas. ~amazon.com

Review: The Art Forger is a thriller with a deep understanding of what it takes to be an artist and painter. So much so that I found myself a little in over my head with it at times. Sure I took the requisite Art History class but never went into detail like Ms. Shapiro does with Claire and her skills. Ms. Shapiro takes great care to explain the way that Degas painted and the way that Claire paints. At times, I felt myself buried in details but unlike some books, I knew that there was a reason for this level of description. It is about 1/4 of the way through the book where it starts to pick up the pace. You begin to wonder how deceitful Aiden was with Claire. Was he? Why is she not being fully honest with him as well? Are they both self-preserving?

Claire is a wonderful character to get to know. She is not without her flaws, which makes her that much more enjoyable to go on the journey with. She has a tainted past that is slowly revealed through chapters that flashback to three years prior. It isn't that you can't figure out what happened to Issac but it's Claire's actions to right a wrong that are intriguing.

Sure there were times when I thought that Claire was a bit out of her realm and might be in over her head but I loved that she was determined to get to the truth. Initially it wasn't just for herself, but in the end it turned out that she needed the truth to be told as much as anyone. 

I can't imagine the research that Ms. Shapiro had to go through to get the accuracy of Degas' painting techniques and those that Claire and Issac used as well. Not to mention the ins and outs of the purchase and sale of art, both legal and illegal. There is a statistic in the book that if true, it shocking to me, that as many as 40% of what we think are true masterpieces are really masterful forgeries!!! Wow!!

The Art Forger is a stunning and thrilling debut novel. It has piqued my interest to go into Chicago and visit The Art Institute again. I was there a lot during college. If you are looking for a different type of thriller, then this novel is for you.

Final Take: 4.75/5