This book is historical fiction based on the life of Emily Carr. The author sets it up that the artist is struggling between showing her subjects as they are versus how she feels about them, and comes down on the side of feelings. She apparently writes the story with the same dilemma and answer, fabricating emotional issues that she would like the artist to have had. I come away not really knowing much more about Carr. If I think of it as fiction entirely, I like it better.
I found it a good novel.
There's one of Emily Carr's paintings at Crystal Bridges. If I ever go to Northwest Canada, I would like to see more. She has been compared to O'Keeffe and Kahlo, and there was once a traveling exhibit of the works of the three. I missed it. I don't know how to find exhibits of interest to me in the U.S. without spending a lot of time searching the internet.
The author Louise Penney goes out of her way to bring Emily Carr into one of her stories.
I bought this book last summer after I had been talking to a friend who teaches art history. She is an insightful reader, but she has lots of other interests and doesn't spend a lot of time reading these days. I thought fiction based on artists would be an easy way to learn some art history. Now it's time for me to read a little less and tackle some of my projects around the house. Reading one book off the bookshelf overflow doesn't really count as progress.
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