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The Underpainter
The Underpainter is a novel of interwoven lives in which the world of art collides with the realm of human emotion. It is the story of Austin Fraser, an American painter now in his later years, who is haunted by memories of those whose lives most deeply touched his own, including a young Canadian soldier and china painter and the beautiful model who becomes Austin’s mistre...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
September 12th 1998
by Emblem Editions
(first published September 6th 1997)
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Jane Urquhart's fourth novel is a staggering yet restrained portrait of an emotionally cold and withholding American minimalist painter, Austen Fraser, now 83 years old and reflecting on his life. Born in in Rochester, NY, around the turn of the twentieth century, his fertile experiences took place in New York, Ontario, and a tiny island called Silver Islet on Lake Superior in Canada.
He was influenced by two eminent artists with diametrically opposed views; Rockwell Kent, who believed that art a...more
He was influenced by two eminent artists with diametrically opposed views; Rockwell Kent, who believed that art a...more
I'm still wrestling with my thoughts on this novel and I'll use this post to help pin them to the mat, or should I say, the canvas...
The Underpainter was a tough read, at times, yet rewarding. Tough because the story is told using summary narrative throughout, from the POV of the protagonist, an aging, self-centered and rather selfish man recounting his life. So there aren't many (if any) full scenes in this story but rather several half-scenes to show what he's telling us.
Yet the prose is lyric...more
The Underpainter was a tough read, at times, yet rewarding. Tough because the story is told using summary narrative throughout, from the POV of the protagonist, an aging, self-centered and rather selfish man recounting his life. So there aren't many (if any) full scenes in this story but rather several half-scenes to show what he's telling us.
Yet the prose is lyric...more
Beautiful descriptive writing. Excruciatingly stupid plotline.
The premise is all right - a painter is musing over his life, which he spent going back and forth from the city to spending his summers in a tiny town, painting his landlady. He muses for a LONG time about how he would be subtly cruel to her (enjoying her discomfort, posing her for hours and not letting her move, thinking of her as nothing, having sex with her and covering her body entirely with his own so that she couldn't move, etc)...more
The premise is all right - a painter is musing over his life, which he spent going back and forth from the city to spending his summers in a tiny town, painting his landlady. He muses for a LONG time about how he would be subtly cruel to her (enjoying her discomfort, posing her for hours and not letting her move, thinking of her as nothing, having sex with her and covering her body entirely with his own so that she couldn't move, etc)...more
This 1997 winner of Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award is the third novel I’ve read by this talented writer.
It’s told from the point of view of painter Austin Fraser, living in his old age in his childhood hometown of Rochester NY. The setting moves from upstate New York to the northern shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Superior – both Canadian locations. It’s told in flashbacks from Austin’s present (1970s) to 1914 and the ensuing years. I was struck by the different affects that the decl...more
It’s told from the point of view of painter Austin Fraser, living in his old age in his childhood hometown of Rochester NY. The setting moves from upstate New York to the northern shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Superior – both Canadian locations. It’s told in flashbacks from Austin’s present (1970s) to 1914 and the ensuing years. I was struck by the different affects that the decl...more
"The woman’s winters are long and bright and silent. Just before nightfall the landscape blossoms into various shades of blue." (p. 4)
"There is no differentiation, in this season, between water and land." (p.5)
"There is nothing in passion, really, except the sense that one should open one’s self to it." (p.9)
"...a stylistic change caught my mind, pulling me from realism towards the concept of formal ambiguity. This freed me, or so I thought, because, unlike a figure or a landscape, a concept can...more
"There is no differentiation, in this season, between water and land." (p.5)
"There is nothing in passion, really, except the sense that one should open one’s self to it." (p.9)
"...a stylistic change caught my mind, pulling me from realism towards the concept of formal ambiguity. This freed me, or so I thought, because, unlike a figure or a landscape, a concept can...more
It is difficult to pinpoint precisely why this quite well-written, well-crafted, well-plotted book is in the end unsatisfying. This is the story of a fictional painter in an all-too-real world of art, love, war, privation, and plenty who keeps himself aloof from it all in order to be the more objective artist. He is a great success in his chosen field, but ends up with little but grief, regret, and pain.
I suspect that part of my uneasiness comes from the fact that a man this disconnected from fe...more
I suspect that part of my uneasiness comes from the fact that a man this disconnected from fe...more
The back of my edition says "uncorrected proof copy -- not for sale". Nevertheless this was sold to me -- at a books warehouse sale -- 3 books for $10. I probably would not have bought it if it weren't.
I cannot be sure therefore if my edition is what other people have read -- despite the ISBN number being the same.
A scathing critique of modernism -- one I can't really agree with. Otherwise, well written, evocative and wistful, as the narrator's paintings would've looked. The position of the arti...more
I cannot be sure therefore if my edition is what other people have read -- despite the ISBN number being the same.
A scathing critique of modernism -- one I can't really agree with. Otherwise, well written, evocative and wistful, as the narrator's paintings would've looked. The position of the arti...more
A friend recommended this book to me as I traveled to Thunder Bay, Ontario for a short trip. It was the perfect place to be reading this book - staying on the 4th floor of the Prince Arthur Hotel looking out from my bed at the Sleeping Giant each morning and evening.
A significant part of this story takes place in Silver Islet, located on the Sleeping Giant peninsula- and I was actually reading the part about Sarah coming across the frozen lake on the skiis while in the Prince Arthur Hotel - bett...more
A significant part of this story takes place in Silver Islet, located on the Sleeping Giant peninsula- and I was actually reading the part about Sarah coming across the frozen lake on the skiis while in the Prince Arthur Hotel - bett...more
The entire time I was reading this I wished I had not chosen it. I found the narrator, Austin, to be a cruel, self-centered and unfeeling man who didn't care one bit about how he, or the world, treated the other characters. I disliked Sarah, his lover, for not kicking him to the curb. He used her and abused her and she allowed him to. I felt sorry for George and couldn't understand why he put up with Austin.
Then Augusta's story was told, slowly throughout the book, but told to the end. Austin o...more
Then Augusta's story was told, slowly throughout the book, but told to the end. Austin o...more
Beautifully written in spots, this novel has some subtle and heartfelt descriptions of Austin Fraser's life and psyche. However it felt, ultimately, empty. He was a cruel, selfish, greedy character, who felt regret at the end of his life, but he had many, many opportunities over several years, to change and apologize, but never did. So his regret and anguish seems very hollow. He ruins the lives of so many and never makes even the smallest gesture of humanity. He never deserved the friendships h...more
I read an interview with the author of this book in which she said she hated the main character the entire time she was writing this. I should be so lucky. That is, I was very unmoved by the writing of this story, a story which should by all rights have been compelling. I couldn't feel anything for any of the characters until the last 50 pages. This deadened effect may have been what Urquhart was going for, to mimic the main character's own hardened insularity, but it didn't work for me. I'd hav...more
Feb 25, 2011
Lana.
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Lana. by:
Rem
Shelves:
fiction,
thought-provoking
"We believe the whole planet rotates at once, but, in fact, it seems to me each entity in it turns on its own private axis, independent of the larger dawns and sunsets... I wondered how many sad old musicians had picked out the tune of the last dance, and when and if they knew that they, the dance floor, the scattered dancers, had all become irrelevant."
For a person who has done so much, painter Austin Fraser doesn't seem to have really lived. Now, in old age, he paints his latest works, and pu...more
For a person who has done so much, painter Austin Fraser doesn't seem to have really lived. Now, in old age, he paints his latest works, and pu...more
Aug 02, 2009
Jennifer (aka EM)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Jennifer (aka EM) by:
The CanLit Establishment ;-)
Shelves:
canlit
Unless something unbelievable happens in the next 40 pages (which given the pace so far would be shocking indeed), I'm not su...more
Aug 01, 2007
Karolina
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Someone interested in the human mind.
When I actually got into this book, it was amazing... I love what happens in it, despite how it'd be a horrible tragedy in real life.
It's strange talking to my English teacher, and thinking to myself that the man in this book is described as horribly arrogant, cold, and pretty much tortures women. I can't help liking this person on the inside because I know this subtleness to his personality that's really underlined in what ends up happening. I just love that the point it's making is such a deep...more
It's strange talking to my English teacher, and thinking to myself that the man in this book is described as horribly arrogant, cold, and pretty much tortures women. I can't help liking this person on the inside because I know this subtleness to his personality that's really underlined in what ends up happening. I just love that the point it's making is such a deep...more
Dec 17, 2008
Sandy
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemp-fic,
war-stories
I don't know quite what I think of this book. I liked to story and yet didn't like the main character much.... he was not a really likable guy... self-centered, judgmental, disinterested in his friends, his lover, in anything much but his perceptions of his paintings...... but I liked the book a lot.... the settings, the period in history, the starkness of the winter lakes.... hmmmmm..... I find the book reminds me a lot of my mother's family in New Hampshire and New England around the same mome...more
This book gets 5 stars for being the most depressing and numb book I have ever read!Now, anyone would beg to differ-given her vivid descriptions of emotions, time, and moments that would otherwise need none of that,but I cursed the moment I held that book-not because it is bad, but because no matter how depressing and lulling it was I could not bring myself to closing it or putting it aside till I the end.
Jane Urquart infects your pysche with another erie plot.The American
painter depicted is like a description I once read of the English
character a muted courage coupled with emotional autism.
Certainly Austin has liquid nitrogen for blood.
The way Jane depicts the great war as she did in the Stone Carvers
really embues the reader with the utter futility of a lost generation.
painter depicted is like a description I once read of the English
character a muted courage coupled with emotional autism.
Certainly Austin has liquid nitrogen for blood.
The way Jane depicts the great war as she did in the Stone Carvers
really embues the reader with the utter futility of a lost generation.
Aug 24, 2010
Arlene Richards
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
canadian-fiction
A skillfully writer,lyrical prose but I was well into the book before it started to interest me. The Underpainter is a cruel, cold and supremely arrogant artist. The book only comes to life through the stories of others that touch the Underpainter's life. I was reminded of the Leonard Cohen song that says "I gored everyone who came close to me". It does leave a lasting impression.
Again, another favorite and this time I really enjoyed the story telling aspect of her work. Plus all the information I learned about painting.It was a brand new topic for me and I began a search for books about "under painters" and those who painted for the old masters who signed as though they had done the work themselves.
Fascinating.
Fascinating.
I can't explain why this book fascinated me, but it carried me along with its dark story of self absorption and fear of participation in life. Metaphorically, the Underpainter is a part of all of us—that part that holds us down, until we look in the mirror and see that we've grown old. Profound.
I started this book about 9 years ago and never got past the first chapter. I recently heard an interview with Jane Urquhart on the CBC about this book, recorded back when the book was first published. I may pick the book up again as I still have it on my shelf.
I love all things Urquhart. she delivers a story filled with flawed and recovering characters. i had a hard time with the term 'underpainting' as i didn't understand it, and as it was an extended metaphor, I feel like I missed something.
I still enjoyed it though
I still enjoyed it though
I'm afraid to say I couldn't finish this. My rule is to read at least 100 pages and stop if it's becoming laborious, which this was. I'm sure it had redeeming features, but I don't think I should have to read more than 132 pages to find them.
I've had this book sitting on my bookshelf unread for years. I'm glad I finally read it. It is beautifully written. It gives wonderful portraits of place and era through a lot of miniature stories that all come together in the end.
This book starts slowly but is well worth pushing through. It is well-written with beautiful prose. The story about the life of a painter and the life lessons he learns too late is compelling and in parts sad, in others frustrating.
I love her books! The character here is male who never seems to grow up and causes unhappiness everywhere. But the story of his late growth in self awareness, through challenges is as gripping as a mystery.
A very insightful story to what happens to your life if you live it as a spectator. The timeline and landscape were often as influential as the characters and the plot. A beautiful, if unresolved, book.
An American painter who has Canadian friends on Lake Superior. He uses people though they don't know it. He ends up being alone in life. A sad story that points out the emptiness in people's lives.
A stirring read for those interested in the sometimes delicate nuances between "high" and "low" art. The dichotomy of artist as passionate visionary or detached vessel is well explored.
painfully slow read at first... but AWESOME use of imagery and metaphor.. which pulled it up from the dreary 3 of canadiana tundra to the 4 prescribed.
great character development too.
great character development too.
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She is the author of seven internationally acclaimed novels entitled, The Whirlpool, Changing Heaven, Away, The Underpainter, The Stone Carvers, A Map of Glass, and Sanctuary Line.
The Whirlpool received the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book Award). Away was winner of the Trillium Book Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The Un...more
More about Jane Urquhart...
The Whirlpool received the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book Award). Away was winner of the Trillium Book Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The Un...more
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“Get drunk, Austin, have a love affair. It would be a tragedy to die and discover that you hadn't completely used up your body.”
—
7 people liked it
“Art is a kind of mining," he said. "The artist a variety of prospector searching for the sparkling silver of meaning in the earth.”
—
6 people liked it
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