The Muralist (Book Review)

The Muralist (Book Review)

The Muralist (book review)

I read this book because I loved the author’s former blockbuster The Art Forger (you can read my five star review of that here), and because a friend read this one and gave me her copy, thinking I would like it, which I did.

It is great to have a historical novel about the art world that takes place among the early abstractionists, since most are set among impressionists or the Italian Renaissance. Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollack, William de Kooning, and Lee Krasner are all real artists that worked together on the WPA (Works Progress Administration) painting public murals for governmental buildings during the depression. A fictional main character is placed among them, to show us how their work bounced off one another, which eventually gave birth to abstract expressionism, and the work that would later make them all famous.

Our main character is an orphaned, Jewish American, who is very concerned about helping her extended family flee from Europe early in WWII. In the process, she meets benefactor Eleanor Roosevelt, and learns about an (also real) assistant Secretary of State named Breckenridge Long, who was appointed by FDR. Long was an anti-semite that blocked some 190,000 visas from being utilized by Jews fleeing Europe, in direct opposition to both the law and FDR’s policies. More than anything else, The Muralist sheds light on America’s culpability in turning away refugees during that man’s tenure. This is a historical puzzle piece I didn’t know, but now will remember.

There are two threads to this book, one set among the WPA art crowd in NYC in the 40’s, and the other 70 years later with the main character’s niece working at Christie’s, who unravels the story. Maybe I’ve read this construct too many times, which made it a bit predictable for me. Also there is a mental illness component here, and I roundly reject the tendency to accept or project that abstractionists must have a screw loose in order to be brilliant and ground-breaking in their art. These are the reasons I give this title only four stars. However, I still liked it overall and you might too!

I work to amplify good wherever I find it. I love color, texture, beauty, great ideas, nature, metaphor, deliciousness, genuine spirituality, and exploring new territory. I encourage authenticity, nurture creativity, champion sustainability, promote peace, and hope to foster a new renaissance where we all are free to be our most fulfilled, multifaceted, and terrific selves. Read more here.

3 Comments

  1. Elizabeth A Shattuck 3 years ago

    I am currently reading “The Paris Wife”, a novel based in history about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. Paints a pretty wild picture of life in Paris in the 1920s. I had picked this book up in a local book barn (little free libraries are on almost every street here). After watching Ken Burns documentary on Hemingway, I was very interested in reading this book. They schmoozed and befriended so many who were at the beginning of their literary careers as well as established writers. This novel is from Hadley’s perspective. Came out in 2011, was a book club favorite I gather from the jacket info and other info found on line. Have you read it?

    • Author
      Polly Castor 3 years ago

      Nope, I have not, since I thought the theme was adultery?

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