The
latest B. A. Shapiro novel, after The Art
Forger, delves into the art world in two centuries and with two artists.
In
2015, Danielle Abrams (Dani) works as a cataloguer for Christies in New York. A
lapsed artist, Dani receives several paintings that have been found in an
attic. They could be some undiscovered works by Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner,
or Mark Rothko. However, Dani sees something different; the paintings remind
her of her great-aunt Alizee Benoit’s work. In the world of abstract
expressionism, there has always seemed to be a missing link. Dani has always
thought that work could be Alizee’s.
In1939,
Alizee Benoit is working for the WPA (Works Progress Adminstration under
Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal). Her best friends are Jackson Pollock, Leo
Krasner, and Mark Rothko. They are painting murals for various buildings, but
their true passion is abstract expressionism.
Alizee
is a Jew from France and has left her entire family there. As Hitler’s rise to
power escalates, letters from her family become more and more desperate,
begging her to help them obtain visas to get out. When she’s working on her
art, she wants her paintings to reflect the Jewish crisis. When she’s working
for the WPA but she’s forced to paint idyllic country scenes. Alizee gets to meet Eleanor Roosevelt, who becomes a
champion of her art. This seems a tad implausible, but Shapiro is so deft as a
writer, that it’s interesting but not a read-breaker.
Alizee’s
family (her brother, aunt, uncle, and two cousins, one with a family) manage to
get aboard the MS St. Louis. The plight of the 937 Jews trying to escape persecution
was mentioned, but did not delve deep enough for me. That story is all but a
footnote in history now, but readers who are curious can learn more about it
in: Refuge Denied:
The St. Louis Passengers and
the Holocaust by Sarah A. Ogilvie and Scott Miller.
In the meantime, Dani discovers envelopes containing pieces
of canvas behind the paintings that were recently discovered. Dani is also trying to uncover what happened
to Alizee. She checked into a sanatorium in 1940 and simply disappeared.
The narrative weaves back and forth between the past and
present, bring the art world of the mid-20th century to life. I had
hoped to be swept away into this world while I read, but I was not. I was
intrigued, but I didn’t find myself anxiously awaiting the time I could get
back to the story. Therefore, I give The Muralist 4 out of 5 stars.
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