Thursday, April 11, 2019

The Collector's Apprentice

What a wonderful story written by B.A. Shapiro author of The Art Forger.  Using her knowledge of art forgery and art work she has painted a colorful plot of intrigue and romance. 

Listening to the story from each character's point of view we learn how George Everard woes Paulien Mertens, a young girl from a wealthy Belgium family.  When George turns out to be a con man who has taken her and her entire family for everything they owned.  Alone, disowned and devastated, Paulien takes on a new persona, Vivienne Gregsby.  She sets out to recover her father's losses, prove her innocence and exact revenge on George.

Using her knowledge of art, she gets a job with an American collector, Edward Bradley, and puts her plan into action.  Traveling through the Paris social scene, Vivienne becomes friendly with Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas.  She becomes involved with Henry Matisse.  Living in the United States she and Bradley set up the first Museum of art in Philadelphia and start an art school for people to learn art appreciation.  Mixing reality and fiction Shapiro has painted an entertaining work of fiction.

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