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18th and 19th Century Artists

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Catherine Delors
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About Jacques-Louis David in fiction

Post by Catherine Delors » Fri September 26th, 2008, 12:30 pm

David appears as a secondary character in my new novel, For The King (pub date 2009.) He is seen putting the finishing touches to what may be his most famous painting: Bonaparte crossing the Alps.

http://blog.catherinedelors.com/2008/04 ... -king.aspx

This gives me the idea of a blog post on him. A very complex and interesting man and artist, he probably deserves to be the protagonist of his own historical novel.

Funny tidbit: my editor had never heard of him, and asked me why on earth he didn't have a last name. Then she googled him.
Last edited by Catherine Delors on Fri September 26th, 2008, 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Sheramy
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Post by Sheramy » Fri September 26th, 2008, 1:41 pm

I've thought that as well, Catherine: That David would make a fascinating protagonist for a novel. Great art plus all kinds of politics = a good story. One wouldn't need to embellish much of anything: the real thing has enough twists and turns to carry a few hundred pages!
Sunflowers: A Novel of Vincent van Gogh, forthcoming from Avon-A, 13 October 2009
My blog: http://vangoghschair.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.sheramybundrick.com
For it is truly the discovery of a new hemisphere in a person's life when he falls seriously in love. -Vincent van Gogh

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Catherine Delors
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Sure

Post by Catherine Delors » Fri September 26th, 2008, 2:17 pm

Plus David's personal life is very interesting, with his divorce followed by remarriage (to the same lady.) A very strong marriage, apparently. Plus he obviously had trouble with his self-image: look how more "normal" his self-portrait looks, compared with other artists' depictions of his face. Foreshadowing of Vincent? ;)

I have been thinking of that blog post on him, and realizing that I needed to break it down into several installments to make it manageable. Only problem for me is that my 3rd book is about an 18th century serial killer. So Book 4, unless you beat me to it?

The amount of research involved is tremendous, because it overlaps the political evolution of France during the Old Regime, the Revolution, and the Empire. So it will take a brave soul to tackle this...

And thanks for the idea of the exhibition roundup at Van Gogh's Chair. I completed it for Paris on my blog. Huge amount of work, but great to plan my own outings this fall. http://blog.catherinedelors.com/2008/09 ... ineup.aspx

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Sheramy
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Post by Sheramy » Mon September 29th, 2008, 6:46 pm

David had some kind of tumor on his cheek that if I recall (digging deep into the ole memory here), started as a wound in a duel. He could not speak clearly as a result, which frustrated him during his Jacobin activities, when he would have liked to do more public speaking. It is interesting that he does indeed downplay the deformity in his self-portraits, but if you look very closely, one cheek is slightly swollen.

You've got it right that a novel based on David would be a huge undertaking. HUGE. It's certainly not in my plans, at least not at the moment: I think getting into his head and doing him well would be very hard. I'm not sure if I want to write something from a male POV; not sure I could. Especially not that particular male with all his political shenanigans. I'd like to try Toulouse-Lautrec sometime. ;)

Simon Schama's World of Art episode on David's Death of Marat is an excellent David documentary, by the way. Very very good.

Now I'm heading to your blog to check out your Paris post... :)
Sunflowers: A Novel of Vincent van Gogh, forthcoming from Avon-A, 13 October 2009
My blog: http://vangoghschair.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.sheramybundrick.com
For it is truly the discovery of a new hemisphere in a person's life when he falls seriously in love. -Vincent van Gogh

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Catherine Delors
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Post by Catherine Delors » Mon September 29th, 2008, 7:46 pm

Saw that! Thanks, Sheramy.
Then neither of us will write the definitive HF on David, and I'll be content with a few blog posts...

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Post by annis » Wed October 1st, 2008, 6:25 am

Sorry that David won't be getting his own novel, Catherine, but I'll certainly be checking out your blog entries and also your new novel when it comes out :)

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Catherine Delors
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Post by Catherine Delors » Wed October 1st, 2008, 9:23 am

Thanks so much, Annis. I will post a reminder here when I get around to doing these David entries.

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Post by annis » Thu October 2nd, 2008, 4:01 am

I'd appreciate that, Catherine, thanks.

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Sheramy
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New Monet Novel

Post by Sheramy » Sat October 4th, 2008, 3:51 pm

I just read that Stephanie Cowell's new novel "The Green Dress," about the young Claude Monet and his model/mistress Camille, was picked up by Crown for spring 2010 publication. I read her "Marrying Mozart" a while ago and enjoyed it; I'm interested to see what she does with Monet. It's great material to work with!
Sunflowers: A Novel of Vincent van Gogh, forthcoming from Avon-A, 13 October 2009
My blog: http://vangoghschair.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.sheramybundrick.com
For it is truly the discovery of a new hemisphere in a person's life when he falls seriously in love. -Vincent van Gogh

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Susan
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Post by Susan » Sat October 4th, 2008, 7:42 pm

[quote=""Sheramy""]I just read that Stephanie Cowell's new novel "The Green Dress," about the young Claude Monet and his model/mistress Camille, was picked up by Crown for spring 2010 publication. I read her "Marrying Mozart" a while ago and enjoyed it; I'm interested to see what she does with Monet. It's great material to work with![/quote]

Thanks for posting this. I also enjoyed Cowell's Marrying Mozart and a novel about a young Claude Monet sounds intriguing.
~Susan~
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