Written in prose so clear that we absorb its images as if by mind meld, The Last Painting is gorgeous storytelling: wry, playful, and utterly alive, with an almost tactile awareness of the emotional contours of the human heart. Vividly detailed, acutely sensitive to stratifications of gender and class, it s fiction that keeps you up at night first because you re barreling through the book, then … the book, then because you ve slowed your pace to a crawl, savoring the suspense. Boston Globe
A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
A RARE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PAINTING LINKS THREE LIVES, ON THREE CONTINENTS, OVER THREE CENTURIES IN THE LAST PAINTING OF SARA DE VOS, AN EXHILARATING NEW NOVEL FROM DOMINIC SMITH.
Amsterdam, 1631: Sara de Vos becomes the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to the city s Guild of St. Luke. Though women do not paint landscapes (they are generally restricted to indoor subjects), a wintry outdoor scene haunts Sara: She cannot shake the image of a young girl from a nearby village, standing alone beside a silver birch at dusk, staring out at a group of skaters on the frozen river below. Defying the expectations of her time, she decides to paint it.
New York City, 1957: The only known surviving work of Sara de Vos, At the Edge of a Wood, hangs in the bedroom of a wealthy Manhattan lawyer, Marty de Groot, a descendant of the original owner. It is a beautiful but comfortless landscape. The lawyer s marriage is prominent but comfortless, too. When a struggling art history grad student, Ellie Shipley, agrees to forge the painting for a dubious art dealer, she finds herself entangled with its owner in ways no one could predict.
Sydney, 2000: Now a celebrated art historian and curator, Ellie Shipley is mounting an exhibition in her field of specialization: female painters of the Dutch Golden Age. When it becomes apparent that both the original At the Edge of a Wood and her forgery are en route to her museum, the life she has carefully constructed threatens to unravel entirely and irrevocably.
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One of the best books I’ve ever read!
I was so sad when I finished this book last night, which indicates how much I enjoyed it. Smith’s novel switches back and forth between three time periods — 17th century Amsterdam, 1950s NYC, and 21st century Sidney. Part of the book follows a young art historian in the 1950s who forges a Dutch painting, and the repercussions this has on her personal life and career 40 years later. The other part follows the original painter of this artwork, and the difficult life events that precipitate her paintings.
Usually when books alternate between different perspectives, I become more attached to one thread over the other. In this book, I found each of the time periods / stories equally engaging. And despite the many sub-plots, it never felt convoluted or lacked focus. Plus, it’s really beautifully written. I’d definitely read another book from Smith, and highly recommend this one.
One of my favorite recent historical fiction reads. In elegant, compelling prose, this novel weaves together the tale of a forged painting, what happens immediately after the forgery is discovered, a belated reckoning more than 30 years later, and the story of the (fictional) 16th-century Dutch woman who painted the original. Indelible and highly recommended.
I read this book several years ago when it first came out. I remember loving it in the same way I loved The Girl with a Pearl Earring. The exotic world of 17th century Dutch painting and the fact that women had to paint in secret in order to satisfy their creative urges captured my imagination. Dominic Smith took his novel a step further, weaving the story of De Voss’s descendant in 1950s Manhattan and the story of the painting’s forger at her 2000 Sydney art exhibition. It’s unusual for me to feel as if I can’t turn the pages quickly enough unless I’m reading a good thriller, but Smith’s marvelous writing had me doing just that about the mystery surrounding a piece of fine art.
It’s been awhile since I read this book however the writing is well-informed regarding the art world. The characters are real-life and flawed but also fascinating.
I did not like the jumping from time periods with every chapter. It was disorienting and hard to keep the characters organized as the plot jept jumping around. The characters never got to expand and develop before you were ripped away into anther time period. Unsatisfying read.
Yesterday, I read a review of Dominic Smith’s most recent book, The Electric Hotel. (BookPage) They referred to The Last Painting of Sara De Vos as a masterpiece. I have to agree. To me, this book was magical. Three characters in the book are tied by their connection to a painting entitled “At the Edge of the Wood,” painted by Sara de Vos in 1631, the golden age of Dutch painting. The painting is haunting and evocative. The story moves between Sara’s life, the life of the current owner of the painting in the 1950’s and the life of a young art historian who reluctantly agrees to do a forgery of the painting. While the character of Sara de Vos is fictional, she is based on a composite of actual female painters of the era. She is the first woman to be admitted to the Guild of St. Lukes as a master painter. Dominic Smith’s knowledge of the art world both technically and historically is most impressive. So much so, that the painting figures almost like a character in the book. The impact of the painting on the lives of its creator, its owner and the woman who recreates it, as a forgery, is fascinating. As the story progresses, tension builds with the impending discovery of the forgery. On the surface, the book is an elegant, highly sophisticated thriller. But on a deeper level, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos speaks to the ability of art to transform lives in ways that are both subtle and profound.
I honestly was not very impressed with the characters in this book. They did not feel genuine to me. Though there was lovely detail and settings, and the author obviously was familiar with Dutch art, I did not feel like everything gelled. Somehow the characters seemed mor like caricatures. The flip flopping between time periods was not done in such a way that it blended well for me, and over all it did not satisfy/
Original, fascinating tale of 2 women artists 400 years apart but linked in many ways. Loved the historical background and the novel’s structure that wove the events and characters together. In addition, a brilliant handling of a moral dilemma marks this as an outstanding experience. I didn’t want to say farewell!
I love historical fiction and this filled in history with an interesting story line.
Ellie was a twenty-six-year-old grad student working in art conservation when she was asked to make a copy of a 17th c painting by a female Dutch painter. The copy is her masterpiece. Ellie is complicit when the original painting is stolen and replaced with Ellie’s copy.
The painting’s owner Marty recognized that his heirloom had been replaced with a forgery. He hired a private detective who leads him to Ellie. Marty assumes a fake identity to get close to Ellie. Each is hiding a truth, but find themselves drawn to each other. Their deceptions bring ruin into both their lives.
Forty years pass and Ellie and Marty are reunited when he loans his painting to the exhibit she is curating. Marty is full of regret as he faces coming death. Ellie’s complicity haunts her; she knows she has built a house of cards and is certain her youthful indiscretion will be revealed.
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith is related in three time periods, tracing the history of a painting over four centuries. The struggles and losses of Sara de Vos, painter during the Dutch Golden Age, is told interspersed between the story line of Marty and Ellie in the late 1950s when Ellie forges Sara’s painting, and in the 2000s when Ellie and Marty are reunited.
I enjoyed reading this book. The writing is beautiful with lovely turns of phrases and memorable epigrams. Rooms ‘bloat with darkness’, a lie ‘comes effortlessly, a deadbolt sliding into a groove.” Ellie ‘tries to uncover a breadcrumb trail of moral failure” in her history.
There is psychological depth to Marty and Ellie as they struggle with moral decisions and their consequences. Regret, Marty says to Ellie, doesn’t eat you alive; it keeps you alive. Marty’s reflections on old age are darkly humorous. I do wish there had been a fourth time period in the novel; the missing 40 years would have been profoundly interesting, a time when Marty and Ellie hit rock bottom and had to rebuild their lives.
Sara de Vos was inspired by a real Dutch female painter. Sara’s paintings are vividly described. Descriptions of the craft of painting in the 17th c and when Ellie makes her copy reveal the fatal flaw in Ellie’s forgery.
I realized I had read this author’s book The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre some years ago and had enjoyed it.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Beautifully written.
Well written and really compelling
Interesting story, enjoyed the description of art restoration process, and the information about women painters
I found the book boring.
This novel is quite unlike anything I have read recently. It focuses on the forgery of a 17th century Dutch painting by a woman at a time when few women were permitted to paint. It moves back and forth in time among the painter’s period, the time of the forgery, and the present (more or less) day. Although it is, in a sense, a mystery, there are no cops and robbers, no killers, etc. Just a few people interested in the Golden Age of Dutch painting and the intricacies of how painters in the past created and what their creations meant artistically and socially. It is a refreshing take on the mystery genre. I found it very enjoyable as well as informative.
Engaging literary fiction.a wonderful story taking place in current time and the period of the Great Dutch artists
Wonderful
If you are looking for something different, thought provoking and well written, this is it.
Well written and a fine historical accounting of the restrictions on women in the 17th century Netherlands.
Learned a lot about art through an artist’s eyes.