In The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, by Dominic Smith, a painting by a fictional woman painter of the Dutch Golden Age, becomes the centre of three dramas in three different centuries. Sara de Vos paints a haunting image of her young daughter, a victim of the plague. Then in the 1950s Marty de Groot, a wealthy American businessman inherits the work, until it's stolen from his apartment and replaced by a forgery done by Ellie Shipley, an art historian who needs some fast money. Finally, and much later, she is forced to confront the reality of her deception when both the forgery and the real artwork end up with her as part of her brief as a curator at a Sydney art gallery. This novel cleverly bridges the historical and the contemporary, while showcasing the author's mastery of detail in the descriptions of painting technique, not to mention the characters who inhabit the esoteric art world.
PS: Those with U3A kindles, please don't forget to bring them to our next meeting on Dec. 3rd.
Helen Scheller
PS: Those with U3A kindles, please don't forget to bring them to our next meeting on Dec. 3rd.
Helen Scheller
