Clara and Mr. Tiffany

Clara and Mr. Tiffany is another terrific read from Susan Vreeland. Vreeland does a wonderful job of giving lots of information about a historical period and the making of stained glass windows and lamps, all the while telling a compelling story. 

I recommended this book to some folks in my writing class who were guilty of the dreaded info dump syndrome. It's not easy to work lots of factual information into a story but Vreeland accomplishes the task seamlessly.  

 

Apart from being a very good story, Clara and Mr. Tiffany aroused in me a lust for a Tiffany reproduction wisteria lamp.  We already have a dragonfly one and it was quite modestly priced. 

So I went looking . . . and found some kind of not-very-good ones and then this beauty above. And only $120 dollars!  Not inconsiderable but for such a gorgeous piece of work... and how beautiful it would be on the marble-topped chest in our bedroom. . .

Then I looked again. The lamp actually cost $7,200. 

 Gasp. 

 The $120 was for shipping . . .

Time to go down to the pond and enjoy the real wisteria. . .

 

Emily Carr - The Forest Lover

The Forest Lover is another book from Susan Vreeland that gives us an in-depth look at an artist's life. Emily Carr (1871- 1945) was inspired by the forests and the native culture of British Columbia.  At a time when potlatches were banned by missionaries and totem poles were sold to collectors or chopped up for firewood, Carr set out to document what remained.

 

Vreeland's book is the story of Emily Carr's obsession with painting and of the difficulties she faced. (Provincial and Victorian, British Columbia was slow to accept this bold, impressionistic art.)

It's also the sad story (once again) of the treatment of the indigenous peoples at the hands of the government and the missionaries. It' s ironic to think that Christians banned the potlatch, in which wealthy people gave away their worldly goods to less fortunate tribe members.

Many of Carr's paintings remind me of Georgia O'Keefe's work.

If you read the book, be sure to check out Vreeland's website where images of Carr's paintings are paired with the appropriate passages from The Forest Lover. Boy, the internet is great for this sort of thing!

Two Artists

These two novels by Susan Vreeland are fictional glimpses into the lives of two very different painters.  The Impressionist Auguste Renoir, painting in late 19th century France and Artemisia Gentileschi ( 1593 - 1653), one of the few women painters of post-Renaissance Italy to achieve success in her lifetime.

The Passion of Artemisia is the story of a young woman who, in spite of rape, betrayal, and  discrimination, makes her way in the hitherto all-male world of painting.  It's a compelling account and helps to explain the violent subject matter of her most famous painting, 'Judith slaying  Holofernes.'

Artimesia's story has the drama but Vreeland's account of the creation of Renoir's best known painting, 'The Luncheon of the Boating Party,' made me smell the oil paint.

 

 As I followed Renoir through the difficulties of assembling so many people to pose for this picture and the different choices he made in the composition, as well as  the various stages over a period of weeks of completing this piece, I became familiar with each face in the painting, with the clothing, the food on the table, even the shades of color in the white table cloth. 

 

This is a wonderful lesson in how to look at a painting and I recommend it enthusiastically!