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239th out of 305 books
—
485 voters
Pictures at an Exhibition
Set in a Paris darkened by World War II, Sara Houghteling’s sweeping and sensuous debut novel tells the story of a son’s quest to recover his family’s lost masterpieces, looted by the Nazis during the occupation.
Born to an art dealer and his pianist wife, Max Berenzon is forbidden from entering the family business for reasons he cannot understand. He reluctantly attends me...more
Born to an art dealer and his pianist wife, Max Berenzon is forbidden from entering the family business for reasons he cannot understand. He reluctantly attends me...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
February 17th 2009
by Knopf
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Excellent debut novel about the art world in Paris before WW2 and the story of all the art looted by the Nazis, much of which was never recovered. Extremely well written, especially for a first novel.
In this historical novel, Houghteling explores Fascism and humanism, unrequited love, and plundered art; it's a historical fact that most of the paintings Max searches for never resurfaced. Critics couldn't help but note that Pictures contains the promises and pitfalls of a first novel. Houghteling evokes 1930s and 1940s Paris, the one-of-a-kind paintings, and the chilling complicity of art dealers in crisp, descriptive language. However, reviewers diverged on a number of points. To some, Rose -
...more
What happened during the Second World War to all the art owned by Jewish people in France? MS Houghteling takes a Parisian art dealer as an example, describes what he has on his walls and which artists he handles and then shows the ways in which cultural objects were made to disappear. Many of them were intended for Hitler's projected museum, but some went to collections of Nazi leaders and not a few were lifted by "Americans". I put quote marks because I am sure the people flogging art after li...more
There is nothing better than a great historical fiction piece to take the reader to another era. Pictures at an Exhibition accomplishes this for the most part. This is often the little known part of the Nazi reign of terror...how their invasion of France also resulted in one-third of all privately owned art being stolen. The Louvre was evacuated to prevent this from happening there.
This is the story of the fictional Berenzon family. The father, Daniel, is a well-respected French art dealer who s...more
This is the story of the fictional Berenzon family. The father, Daniel, is a well-respected French art dealer who s...more
My reading of this book happened to coincide with publication of a new study, "Savage Continent," by Keith Lowe, about the violence that persisted in Europe after WWII. Like most Americans, I always thought of VE Day as the happy ending to WWII. In fact, for many survivors it was a nightmare. They were not welcomed back with open arms, and many of their French neighbors were not eager to restore the looted homes, businesses, and possessions. According to Lowe, anti-semitism actually increased in...more
Mysteries involving art and galleries, and books about European resistance to the Nazis are both favorite subjects of mine. This book had both, with a Plus of including a real person as a character: Rose, who amazingly kept so many records of stolen art (artist, piece, whose, who took it, where it went) during the Nazi looting of treasures in Paris. Most of the characters are Jewish, so issues of losing loved ones, searching, finding or not finding information, also are part of the book. The bat...more
In 1944-45 Paris, Max, the son of a prominent art dealer, tracks down the confiscated contents of his father's gallery. The key to the mystery is Rose Clement, who'd apprenticed with his father before the war and worked during the war at the Jeu de Paume.
Likes: the embedded history lessons. Between liberation and the end of the war, Paris was more chaotic than I'd realized. Hard to picture battles around the Grand Palais or in the Luxemburg Gardens.
Dislikes: The writing was awkward, heavy. Max'...more
Likes: the embedded history lessons. Between liberation and the end of the war, Paris was more chaotic than I'd realized. Hard to picture battles around the Grand Palais or in the Luxemburg Gardens.
Dislikes: The writing was awkward, heavy. Max'...more
I really wanted to love this book, to appreciate its classiness and dignity and deep appreciation of art. However, the problem is that with all its splendor of music and art, it is too expository. I am very visual when I read, and I depend on the narrative to float me along, to raise strong vivid images. It failed to do that. The cadence is choppy and before I can attempt to grasp a scene or a character, it has skittered past me. Its very lightness was ponderous.
This is a first novel for Hought...more
This is a first novel for Hought...more
This is a good book to me and I liked it because it was around world war 2. The genre of this book is drama/mystery. I chose the book because of the cover it seemed like the setting was going to be urban and I like those type of books. The protagonist is Max and Rose. The supporting characters are max's dad and and the family. The antagonist is the Nazi army who stole the paintings. The setting was in the countryside of France and in Paris before and after the World War 2. This book is a very in...more
Jul 22, 2010
ICPL Staff Picks
added it
Harvard College graduate Sara Houghteling’s wonderful debut novel provides a glimpse into the art world of Paris and the life of a Jewish family both before and after World War II. Max Berenzon wants to take over his father’s famous Paris art gallery; however, his father encourages him to study medicine while training a new assistant, Rose, to work in the gallery. Everything changes during World War II and the Nazi occupation of Paris. The family is forced into hiding and Rose works as a double...more
Jul 13, 2009
Joan
added it
What is the loss of art, compared to the murder of millions of human beings? Perhaps little. Yet art is part of what makes us human, and the destruction and theft of art because of its associations with people of a particular ethnicity is soul murder.
During World War II, the Germans looted the great museums and the great private collections of Europe. Much of this loot has never been recovered, and, even where it has, much of it has not or cannot be restituted, because of lack of records, resist...more
During World War II, the Germans looted the great museums and the great private collections of Europe. Much of this loot has never been recovered, and, even where it has, much of it has not or cannot be restituted, because of lack of records, resist...more
The book is an intricately told story about the transition to adulthood of a privilaged young man from a prominent Jewish family, named Max. The story takes place during WWII in Paris. The novel is built around Max's father's famous art gallery, which represented Matisse and Picasso, and sells works by the likes of Manet, Morrisot and Vuillard.
The story follows Max's unrequitted love for an eccentric and brave young Louvre curator Rose, his relationship with his best friend Bertrand and, most o...more
The story follows Max's unrequitted love for an eccentric and brave young Louvre curator Rose, his relationship with his best friend Bertrand and, most o...more
I'm between 3.5- 4 stars. It is a good book. One review called the writing "lean", which may be why I sometimes fell asleep on this read.
There is a lack of tension or dynamics, while the story is quite tense and the dynamics historically and emotionally powerful. the writing is clean and smart. Maybe occassionally repetitive.
Fictional account of Parisian-Jewish art dealing family ( and intense relationship with father/son, and son/lover) during WW2,Nazi plundering of art and objects in France,....more
There is a lack of tension or dynamics, while the story is quite tense and the dynamics historically and emotionally powerful. the writing is clean and smart. Maybe occassionally repetitive.
Fictional account of Parisian-Jewish art dealing family ( and intense relationship with father/son, and son/lover) during WW2,Nazi plundering of art and objects in France,....more
Pictures at an Exhibition, by Sarah Houghteling is a book written by a new voice, and is Houghteling’s debut novel. The jacket is what caught my attention, as it stated that the book deals with 1930s France, the artistic community, and also deals with art that was looted and stolen during WWII. It sounded like it would be a good read.
I began reading the book, and I found the beginning pages captured my interest. The story line was one of generations of one family, and mainly deals with issues of...more
I began reading the book, and I found the beginning pages captured my interest. The story line was one of generations of one family, and mainly deals with issues of...more
Feb 15, 2010
KarenC
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to KarenC by:
Bookmarks Magazine
Shelves:
bookmarks,
historical_fiction
With a positive review in Bookmarks and the title of one of my favorite classical music pieces I couldn't resist this book when I saw it at the library. I'm glad I picked it up. I enjoyed the writing style used by the Ms. Houghteling. The tone echoed what I would expect for the period of the novel. It was a pleasant read.
I did find the young Max self-absorbed with a certain lack of concern for those around him. This is not a book that focused on surviving World War II in France, only on specifi
...more
Narrator has a good French accent. Not sure what I think about the book. Subject is very interesting so far. WWII, stolen art.
There were many things I liked about this book. Houghteling did a great job of selling the setting to me. I could smell the Gauloise cigsand the Parisian quai, and the French countryside.
Ultimately, despite the fascinating subject matter, I decided the characters I wanted to know the most about were only seen through the narrator, Max. I wanted to know more about Rose, t...more
There were many things I liked about this book. Houghteling did a great job of selling the setting to me. I could smell the Gauloise cigsand the Parisian quai, and the French countryside.
Ultimately, despite the fascinating subject matter, I decided the characters I wanted to know the most about were only seen through the narrator, Max. I wanted to know more about Rose, t...more
i absolutely loved the first half of this book. the first three-fourths, really. it evoked a place (paris) and an era (pre-wwii europe) in such way that i felt i was there. it even revealed a world to me--the world of art dealers and their artists. houghteling is an excellent descriptive writer and her attention to the paintings of the middle of the 20th century is breathtaking. her research about nazi art looting was also evident and she was great at showing the tricky position of those in pari...more
While I enjoyed the idea of Pictures at an Exhibition, the actual story felt a little unfinished to me. In occupied France during World War II, hundreds of thousands works of art were looted by the Nazis, a great many of which were never recovered. In Pictures at an Exhibition, Max Berenzon, the son of a prominent art dealer, makes it his quest to recover his father's lost collection. There were many great characters and wonderful settings in the story, but for some reason, it didn't seem to com...more
A work of high literary value and interest, Houghteling's novel recounts the dizzing years of the life of the son of a Parisian art dealer, a lucky man whose only curse is to be Jewish and be born at just the right moment to experience, as a young man, the evils of the German Occupation. Worth a read just for the setting, the book's biggest strength is the author's seemingly photographic memory of famous paintings, which crop up in imagery and as actual objects in the tale. The book's only downs...more
I enjoyed this book a lot; I enjoyed the main story, which was good, but I was really fascinated by the story behind the story, that of the great works of art that disappeared from private collections all over Europe during WWII, stolen by the Nazis and others. The main story was of a fictional Jewish art dealer in Paris and his wife and son. They managed to hide out the war and survive the deportations, but lost everything, their collections, their business, and their fortune. The author, Sara...more
There must be something in the air: the publishing houses are releasing a glut of WW2 "literary" novels and, a large percentage of them highlight Nazi atrocities. The particular orientation of this book---the artworks looted by the Germans---is a troubling and fascinating legacy of the period.
I looked forward to reading Houghteling's story about a young man's obsessive quest to recover his family's treasures and the book is well-researched and well-paced, but I felt it lost its way a bit in the...more
I looked forward to reading Houghteling's story about a young man's obsessive quest to recover his family's treasures and the book is well-researched and well-paced, but I felt it lost its way a bit in the...more
While I did enjoy Ms. Houghteling's prose, the plot has several large gaps. I felt she glazed over the French Jewish people's experiences during and after German-occupied Paris during World war II to focus soley on how the Nazis raided Paris' art collections, both public and private, and the problems that arose trying to restore those stolen art works.
Certainly poignant, I still wanted more information and interaction between the central characters the author created. She sets up these character...more
Certainly poignant, I still wanted more information and interaction between the central characters the author created. She sets up these character...more
I enjoyed this book. Lost artworks of course can't compare to the loss of life incurred during WWll, or any war for that matter...whether it was jews or soldiers or just plain people. As an artist, and an artist whose taste runs to abstract expressionism...including degenerate art...the loss of so many of these works is just heart breaking. I can only imagine how much it would mess you up to lose not only every thing you own, but singular works of art. You can buy a new chair, or table...but to...more
This book had so much promise, but I just couldn't finish it. The note at the end of the book about the sources she used for her story was actually quite interesting. It is unfortunate that the story just didn't work. The story is supposed to be a mystery - a family loses their paintings during WWII and the son is on a quest to locate the paintings, and a woman that he fell in love with before he left Paris. The woman was a curator at the Louvre during WWII (the true part of the story that was i...more
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WWII has always interested me because of how tragic it was and lately I've been reading books about parts of it that I didn't know (i.e. Welsh Girl). This one concerned the artwork that was looted when all the Jews were forced to leave their galleries and collections behind. The story is good but I think I liked the book because of how it told me something about the past that I didn't know. It is also amazing to think that so much of the artwork was eventually restored to the rightful owner/fami...more
A good read, though ended just when it could have really begun to go somewhere. The info about the real woman that the story is based on sounded fascinating, and I wished that the book had many more chapters about her involvement in the art dealings with the Nazis and with the French after the war.
The main character was not as interesting as her (he's smart but so oblivious about people around him that he is frustrating), so I understand why the book ended when it did, but I think we lost a grea...more
The main character was not as interesting as her (he's smart but so oblivious about people around him that he is frustrating), so I understand why the book ended when it did, but I think we lost a grea...more
Wow, if only all novels were this good. Intelligent, informative, compulsively readable, moving without being painfully so. I highly recommend this book. I was glad that I had just finished reading Thomas Hoving's Master Pieces, and so had some idea what the paintings described in the book look like; it's not essential but if you don't know much about art it's not a bad idea to have a Survey of Great Western Art type book available. Or i guess you can look the pictures up on the internet. A real...more
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Sara Houghteling's Pictures at an Exhibition set in Paris during the 1930's and 40's is a work of historical fiction about the Nazi's systematic looting of French museums and private art collections. The novel centers on Max Brenezon, the son of Jewish art dealer whose family hid in the French countryside during the Nazi occupation of Paris. With the defeat of Germany, Max returns to Paris obsessed with reclaiming the paintings stolen from his family. While the main characters in her novel are f...more
I could not put this book down. I have read some of the books that appear in the bibliography, and that may have helped, but the story was fascinating and functioned on many levels: a father-son story, a putative romance, the collaboration of the Vichy government with Nazis, the systematic looting of private art collections during the second world war, the pain of families and friend disappeared (and ultimately dead) during the war, and the goodness and clear morals that guide some people even i...more
Max Berenzon, the son of Jewish art-dealer Daniel Berenzon grows up in Paris in the years leading up to WWII. While Daniel will talk about the paintings with Max and quiz him on what paintings were displayed during various shows, Max is not allowed to enter the art dealer business. During WWII, the family is forced into hiding. When they return to Paris after the war, Daniel's extensive collection is all lost to the looters. Max is determined to recover his father's collection and goes on an ex...more
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Sara Houghteling graduated from Harvard College in 1999 and received her master's in fine arts from the University of Michigan. She is the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to Paris, first prize in the Avery and Jules Hopwood Awards, and a John Steinbeck Fellowship. She currently lives in California, where she teaches high school English.
Pictures at an Exhibition
is her first novel.
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Sep 29, 2012 07:15pm