Friday, May 12, 2023

Ten contemporary novels inspired by art & artists

For the Royal Academy Connie Sjödin tagged ten top contemporary novels inspired by art and artists, including:
The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier (2004)

Known for her best-selling novel inspired by Johannes Vermeer’s painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier here turns to the courtly world of late 15th-century Paris and Brussels. Inspired by the eponymous series of six tapestries that now hangs in the Musée national du Moyen Age in Paris, the novel threads themes of desire and symbolism through an imagined story of their creation.

Craft is a recurring feature of Chevalier’s work, from quilting in The Last Runaway in 2013 ... to embroidery in her latest novel, A Single Thread (2019).
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue