SOLVED. Adult novel from 1990s. Art students in Paris re-creating 12 masterpieces. One is a forgery. The forged artwork is the narrator of the novel. [s]

[Duk]

I read a book in the 1990s about art students in Paris who were assigned to re-create (copy) about a dozen masterpieces for school. One of those masterpieces turns out to be a forgery. The forged artwork is the narrator of the novel.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

I've forgotten some of the details, but in some ways this sounds like What's Bred in the Bone. Probably not, though.

[Aileen]

This sounds like a book I read a long time ago -The Forger by Paul Watkins.

[Duk]

Thank you Lobstergirl, but What's Bred in the Bone is not it. You just gotta love Robertson Davies, though, don't you!

[Duk]

Thanks Aileen, but The Forger isn't it. I really liked some other Paul Watkins novels, tho, so thank you for reminding me of him.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Is it literary fiction or mass market fiction?

[Victoria]

> The forged artwork is the narrator of the novel.

No idea what book this is, but I've just got to ask how this works! Does the artwork reminisce about its experiences? Discuss its painter? Gossip about the other paintings? How does it "turn out" that the artwork is the narrator of the novel, without it being clear from the start?

Color me intrigued. ;)

[Duk]

Lobstergirl: well, it was on the new book shelf at my library.

Victoria: yes to all of that! The narrator was sly and crafty, discussing the various paintings in detail without revealing itself. In fact, when I was in Paris in 1999, I'd stop in front of paintings (like The Raft of the Medusa or Deux Femmes Courant sur la Plage) and think "How do I know this painting so well?" And it was because of this book!

[Kris]

Duk, can you tell us something about the forged painting or the artist/forger (country/time period)?

Does the book go back in time to tell the story of the artist/forger? Does it talk a lot about the art students?

What's the tone of the book - mystery, suspense, satire, etc.?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Check out these listopias searched on art forgery:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Duk, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Duk]

Thanks, it's lost. I'll come across it someday. Thanks for your efforts.
Duk

[Ayshe]

The Triumph of Love and Other Paintings maybe?

[Duk]

Ayshe, thank you. This is exactly the novel I was looking for. I found a copy on Amazon and it's already on it's way to me. Had you read this? If not, how did you figure out the title?

Thanks to all who helped me with this search. Once I read the novel, I'll post again.

Duk

[Ayshe]

Great, I'm happy to hear it! No, I haven't read it, I searched in Google Books or worldcat.org for "twelve paintings" or something similar (I can't remember) and I found it that way.

[Duk]

All,
Thanks again for your help in finding this book. It's great to have the itch scratched after 12 years!

The name of the book is The Triumph of Love and Other Paintings by Michael Westlake (A Wyatt Book for St. Martin's Press, 1997, New York).

This is an intriguing and unique novel. It is all at once a love story, a mystery, an art appreciation textbook, an art history textbook, and finally an art instruction book. Oh, and there's some film theory involved, too. I'm not very good at any of those things, yet I very much enjoyed the read. I will definitely pass it on to my favorite literature professor.

Thanks again,
Duk