In 1630s Amsterdam, Sara de Vos becomes the first woman admitted to a professional painters' guild, struggling against poverty to create a haunting winter landscape. Three centuries later, this unique canvas belongs to Marty de Groot, a wealthy Manhattanite whose collection is breached when an art history student, Ellie Shipley, agrees to paint a near-perfect forgery. The narrative tracks the consequences of this deception across three timelines, culminating in a 1960s legal entanglement and a final meeting in Sydney decades later where the original and fake finally collide.
This novel serves readers interested in the technical intersections of chemistry and art history. Those who appreciate the mechanics of pigment grinding, canvas preparation, and the ethics of restoration will find value in the specific descriptions of seventeenth-century Dutch techniques. The audience gains a clear understanding of how provenance is established and how the pressure to authenticate a legacy can lead to lifelong professional guilt. Readers walk away with a look at the gendered barriers within classical art circles and the high stakes of the high-end forgery market.
Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2016
- Language
- EN
