Our books editor dips into some recent art-historical fiction
By Jacqueline Riding
Fascism is on the rise in Europe, with Mosley’s Black Shirt bullies in England. A mysterious Italian artist befriends a young art student in Manchester. But whose side is he on?
A late-Renaissance erotic statue is discovered in Venice, but who created it? Cue an art historian’s race against time—and a local crime family—to uncover the astonishing truth.
Against the backdrop of the Holy Jubilee 1650, Diego Velázquez’s assistant is drawn into a power struggle at the heart of Leo X’s Vatican. By the author of Mrs Whistler.
London, 1858: Edwin Landseer is creating “noble beasts” for Trafalgar Square. But struggling with the pressure and self-doubt, he retreats into memories of a more liberated era and a life-changing grand passion.
Kahlo meets Diego Rivera at a party: the rest is history. An English translation of Rien n’est noir (2020), by the great-granddaughter of the art critic Gabrièle Buffet-Picabia.
This article was originally published by The Art Newspaper.