Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer
A picture is not only worth a thousand words: It can sometimes inspire a whole invented world. Independent art historian Heidi Applegate explores the art and artists behind three works of historical fiction. Gain new perspectives on the works of Johannes Vermeer, Leonardo da Vinci, and Henri Matisse by delving into the novels followed by Applegate’s examination of the factual background along with the fiction. This is a “novel” way to explore the arts.
July 8 Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1999
Girl with a Pearl Earring is perhaps the most well-known work of art-historical fiction. Author Tracy Chevalier imagines what daily life was like in the bustling 17th-century Delft household of Johannes Vermeer, shared with his wife, mother-in-law, many children, a cook, and a newly hired servant girl, Griet. The novel includes references to several of the artist’s genre scenes and cityscapes and builds to the culminating moment when Griet becomes his most famous model. Applegate discusses paintings central to the plot and offers additional context from a new biography of Vermeer.
August 12 Jonathan Santlofer, The Last Mona Lisa, 2021
In 1911, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by an Italian worker who took the painting home with him. What if multiple copies had been made before the painting was returned to the Louvre in 1913, and the version now hanging on its walls is one of those replicas? A present-day descendant of the thief is determined to find the answer. The Last Mona Lisa is the story of the most famous painting in the history of art, the criminal world of the market for forgeries, and what determines the true value of an original work of art.
September 9 Morgan Pager, The Art of Vanishing, 2025
The Art of Vanishing alternates between the perspectives of Claire, a nightshift custodian at the Barnes collection in Philadelphia, and Jean, the son of Henri Matisse, as portrayed in the 1917 painting The Music Lesson. Through some mysterious connection between them, Claire and Jean can move between the world of the museum and the world of the painting. Applegate provides both an introduction to the Barnes’ holdings and an in-depth look at the art of Matisse.
3 sessions
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