Mysteries of the Rectangle: Essays on Painting

From Siri Hustvedt, author of the bestselling novel What I Loved, comes this inspired collection of essays on painting. Here, Hustvedt concentrates her narrative gifts on the works of such masters as Francisco de Goya, Jan Vermeer, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Gerhard Richter, and Joan Mitchell.

Hustvedt is concerned with the very act of looking and the limitless rewards to be gleaned from sustained, careful attention. Unlike film and books, which progress over time, "Painting is there all at once," she writes, it is only with patience and repeated viewings that elusive meanings present themselves.

Through her own personal experiences, Hustvedt is able to reveal things until now hidden in plain sight: an egg-like detail in Vermeer's Woman with a Pearl Necklace and the many hidden self-portraits in Goya's series of drawings, Los Caprichos, as well as in his infamous painting The Third of May. Most importantly, these essays exhibit the passion, thrill, and sheer pleasure of bewilderment a work of art can produce — if you simply take the time to look.

"These wonderful essays capture Hustvedt's thoughtful, intensely personal and aesthetically charged responses to art. At first, Hustvedt's choice of artists seems random or disjointed, but it becomes apparent that her work is driven by a deeper logic that unites these painters: still life, the power of dreams and the struggle to truly see the world-she finds a profound engagement with these themes in each of the artists she treats, whether it be the cityscape-bottles of Giorgio Morandi, the vertiginous monsters of Goya, the abstract masses of Joan Mitchell or Gerhard Richter's ghostly photo paintings. Hustvedt writes with few technical or academic trappings, and the effect is that of an intelligent, articulate art-lover speaking about paintings she has looked at and thought about for a lifetime. As with Montaigne's essays or Proust's criticism, this expository character is hard-won. Hustvedt is well versed in the theory and scholarship on these artists, something she keeps below the surface in all but the last two pieces. This delightful book will interest anyone who enjoys art, whether casually or professionally, and Hustvedt's elegant prose makes for an engrossing read even for readers unfamiliar with the art under consideration. " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Lively and personal, yet keenly observant and nuanced, eight essays by novelist Hustvedt invite readers to engage with art in her company. She talks about her experience and excitement when looking at paintings and discusses in detail selected works by Giorgione, Vermeer, Chardin, Goya, Morandi, Mitchell, and Richter, as well as some masters of the still life, including Cotán, Soutine, Cézanne, and Guston. Color plates of the works under discussion are included in this attractive, well made (Smythe-sewn) book.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Lively and personal, yet keenly observant and nuanced, eight essays by novelist Hustvedt invite readers to engage with art in her company. She talks about her experience and excitement when looking at paintings and discusses in detail selected works by Giorgione, Vermeer, Chardin, Goya, Morandi, Mitchell, and Richter, as well as some masters of the still life, including Cotán, Soutine, Cézanne, and Guston. Color plates of the works under discussion are included in this attractive, well made (Smythe-sewn) book. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Siri Hustvedt is a novelist whose books include Enchantment of Lily Dahl and What I Loved. She makes her home in Brooklyn, New York.