Art is a language on its own and paintings exist as a form of storytelling. Art translates life and transcends cultures without words. Throughout history, extraordinary artwork and paintings by fearless creative souls live on to enchant, intrigue and inspire us about humanity and tell us about living and social structures in the past.
A Book Review
https://francebooktours.com/2020/11/25/lilianne-milgrom-on-tour-lorigine/: this is a historical novel, no explicit scenes
L'Origine written by Lilianne Milgrom ( picture ) is a historical fiction about L'Origine du Monde, a controversial piece of artwork that has elicited conflicting emotional responses since it was first created in 1865. The scandalous artwork by unorthodox Gustave Courbet continues to court attention and passionate responses from art afficianados and viewers.
Lilianne Milgrom who is an artist and painter shares her personal experience and inspiring journey in investigating and discovering the secret past lives of the painting. In her book, L’Origine, she takes us through history on the journey of the controversial iconic vulvic portrait. Milgrom narrates how the portrait had to remain hidden for more than one and a half centuries. The painting also changed hands between several art collectors and travelled through continents since it was first created in 1865. L’Origine du Monde is presently perched on a wall in the Musée d’Orsay ( Orsay Museum) in Paris.
L'Origine traces the secret journey of the controversial art piece beginning with the description of the art world in the nineteenth-century back when thousands of hopeful young artists migrated to Paris every year but very few succeeded. Gustave Courbet was ambitious and intent on taking Paris by storm and he did with the mantra that his dear grandpapa had instilled in him “ Walk tall and shout loud”. ’Courbert was the realist master of art. To the distaste and in defiance of the preference of the Parisian elites, he portrayed ‘downtrodden peasants from his village engaged in the gritty prosaic act of burying one of their own’ instead of ‘insipid, bucolic scenes of the peasants frolicking gaily in perfectly manicured landscape.'
Courbet’s artwork was considered immoral and unacceptable by the standard art salon in Paris at the time. In 1865, one winter day, Khalil Bey, an art enthusiast, the Ottoman diplomat who hailed from Constantinople ( Istanbul) commissioned Courbert to do a piece of painting after viewing Courbert’s Venus and Psyche. That marked the birth of Courbet’s modestly sized L'Origine du Monde that portrays a woman’s torso and genitals. The painting has stirred controversy for almost two centuries and continues to elicit debate about the conflicting attitudes and emotions that the painting would evoke. Lilianne is very detailed and imaginative in putting forth a fascinating historical fiction that spans from 1865 - 2014 and across continents.
Lilianne Milgrom was born in Paris, grew up in Australia and presently lives in the United States. In 2011, Lilianne became the first authorized copyist of Gustave Courbet’s L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World). She managed to produce a near-identical copy of Courbet’s masterpiece. In her book, she describes how she was transfixed and spellbound by the painting that she found herself approaching the reception and applied to become a copyist for L’Origine du Monde at the Orsay.
The author muses :
‘ The experience of copying L’Origine had left me feeling stripped and exposed, yet oddly empowered.’
Aside from copying the painting, Lilianne spent almost ten years researching on the background and motivation that inspired Gustave Courbet to paint The Origin of the World and why the eccentric perspective and who the model was. Lilianne Milgrom's language is visual. This is how her adventure began.
As her children had flown the nest and with her husband away more often than not, she refused to hole up in her studio in Washington, DC and lament about the passing of her youth. In her words, ‘trying to come to terms with the somewhat abrupt realization that I’d reached an age that qualified me as a “ woman of a certain age” and with that came looming prospect of diminishing sexual appeal – a most unappealing thought. I was not prepared to take this injustice lying down and had begun to examine the subject of sexuality and aging in my studio practice.'
It then dawned upon Milgrom one morning that 'Paris, the city where French men still wax lyrical about octogenarian Brigitte Bardot, would be the perfect place to pursue the subject as Napoleon himself remark : “ Give a woman six months in Paris, and she knows where her empire is, and what is her due.” '
L’Origine is an excellent read for readers who are interested in European art and history.
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Thanks so much for your thorough review. So glad it captivated you. I also like your general introduction. Emma at France Book Tours
ReplyDeleteThank you Emma, glad that you like the post. Another splendid read. Merci beaucoup !!
DeleteThank you so much for your detailed and captivating review of my book. I must have had you in mind when I wrote it - as a reader, you have picked up all the nuanced points and more! It is so gratifying to know that L'Origine du monde and its rebellious creator, Gustave Courbet, can reach a conteporary audience through my novel. Thank you for taking the time to read :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lilianne, It is indeed an interesting read. Your epilogue is just perfect. What a feat for both your painting and the book. Thank you for your kind message.
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