- Paperback: 362 pages
- Publisher: Louisville Review Corp. and Fleur-de-Lis Press (12 Mar. 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0996012036
- ISBN-13: 978-0996012034
Synopsis
In 1863, civil war is raging in the United States. Victorine Meurent is posing nude, in Paris, for paintings that will be heralded as the beginning of modern art: Manet’s Olympia and Picnic on the Grass. However, Victorine’s persistent desire is not to be a model but to be a painter herself. In order to live authentically, she finds the strength to flout the
expectations of her parents, bourgeois society, and the dominant male artists (whom she knows personally) while
never losing her capacity for affection, kindness, and loyalty. Possessing both the incisive mind of a critic and the
intuitive and unconventional impulses of an artist, Victorine and her survival instincts are tested in 1870, when the Prussian army lays siege to Paris and rat becomes a culinary delicacy.
Review
Victorine by Drēma Drudge is a fictional account of the life of Victorine Meurant. The name may not sound familiar to you, but you will have seen her face in some of the most famous paintings, especially Le Déjeuner sur l’ Herbe, and Olympia. In this book, Drēma Drudge brings Victorine to life, from being a muse to Manet and Alfred Stevens, to finally being recognised as an artisit in her own right.
I first came across Victorine when studying for my Art History Degree, when looking at women in art and how they faded into the background of the patriarchal establishment (lets face it we can all name many male artisits, but how many female could you name?). So when Drēma Drudge got in contact about her book on Victorine I jumped at the chance to read it, and learn more about this wonderful woman. This is a fictional account, but it is obvious to me how much research Drēma has done, the historical detail, her knowledge of the art world and her understanding of Victorine really shines through and makes this such a remarkable book.
What really stands out for me in this book is how Drēma Drudge captures the spirit of Victorine, and by having Victorine as the narrator makes it more personal. In a way she was a trailblazer, a woman ahead of her time in that she was independent, earnt her own money, was aware and comfortable of her body, and her sexuality and realised the power it held. But, she wasn’t satisfied with just being a model for some of the most famous artists of the time, she wanted to be an artist herself and saved her money so she could go to art school. Drēma’s fictionalised portrayal of Victorina modelling for Manet and Stevens makes the reader a voyeur to the sanctity of the artisits studio, that special moment of artist at work, creating some of the most famous art in the world.
Away from the artist studio Drēma Drudge anchors Victorine’s story in the cultural and social history of Paris in the late nineteenth century. This was a time of café culture where Victorine mixed with many of the great artists and literary names of the day, including Zola, Dégas and Monet, drinking wine and the famous absinthe. This soon came to a stop when the Franco Prussan War finally came to Paris, and Drēma writes of poverty and death, where the reseidents were eating rats to survive, a dark contrast to the rest of the book, bringing in the reality of life. The social history sees a patriarchal and class society, and not just in the art world. Even when she did get to art school the other female students had rich parents to pay for their tuition, whereas Victorine had to work to earn her money. Drēma does include other female artists of the period Beth Morisot and Eva Gonzales, but both had their art constrained by their marriages, whereas Victorine wanted to push the boundaries, and she did.
Victorine is an impressive and compelling read about a woman who was a feminist ahead of her time. Drēma Drudge’s lyrical prose and attention to detail make this book such a joy to read, pulling the reader into the book and nineteenth century Paris. Victorine’s story from model to artist is fascinating, and in this fictional account she is brought to life like her own self portrait; by the end of the book I felt I knew her intimately. Ths is a story of art, its lasting legacy, and the sexism and prejudice around it, which Victorine challenged. I simply loved this book, the writng, the art and the history, and highly recommend it, even if art is not your thing as it has so many themes that resonate today.
