Bluebeard

Rabo Karabekian is an aged, one-eyed abstract expressionist living in a beachfront mansion on Long Island. The narrative takes the form of his autobiography, detailing his apprenticeship under the commercial illustrator Dan Gregory and his participation in World War II. Karabekian struggles with the failure of his masterpiece paintings, which fell apart because he used a defective brand of Sani-厚 synthetic paint that eventually peeled off the canvases. He spends his days dodging the intrusions of a pushy houseguest, Circe Berman, while guarding a secret locked inside his potato barn.

Readers interested in the history of mid-century American art and the technical mechanics of painting will value this account of the New York School. It identifies the tension between technical proficiency and the chaos of modernist abstraction. The reader learns how personal trauma and historical wreckage influence creative output. By the end, the text provides a specific perspective on how an artist finds value in their work after their professional reputation has faded.