The Parisian Sphinx: A True Story of Art and Obsession
A gripping art history cold case: the previously untold story of Victorine Meurent, forgotten painter and famous muse to artists from Manet to Toulouse-Lautrec, and the modern search for her lost paintings

When former art student and journalist Summer Brennan learned that Édouard Manet’s favorite model from such iconic works as Olympia and Lunch on the Grass had been a painter in her own right, but that all of her paintings had been lost, she couldn’t resist the allure of the mystery.

Appearing in more than thirty surviving works by her era’s most famous academic, impressionist, and post-impressionist artists, Victorine Meurent was part of the creation of a mythic bohemian Paris: Émile Zola is said to have modeled one of the scandalous heroines on her, and she lived, drank, and exhibited her work alongside legends like Monet, Degas, and a group of women known as the “lesbian sisterhood of Montmartre.”

After more than a decade spent researching Meurent and her world, Brennan painstakingly pieced together clues to tell a fuller picture of her life and reclaim the first pieces of her lost oeuvre, revealed here for the first time. The Parisian Sphinx is an art history puzzle in which Meurent emerges as artist, muse, and woman ahead of her time who defined and defied an era.

"1132050999"
The Parisian Sphinx: A True Story of Art and Obsession
A gripping art history cold case: the previously untold story of Victorine Meurent, forgotten painter and famous muse to artists from Manet to Toulouse-Lautrec, and the modern search for her lost paintings

When former art student and journalist Summer Brennan learned that Édouard Manet’s favorite model from such iconic works as Olympia and Lunch on the Grass had been a painter in her own right, but that all of her paintings had been lost, she couldn’t resist the allure of the mystery.

Appearing in more than thirty surviving works by her era’s most famous academic, impressionist, and post-impressionist artists, Victorine Meurent was part of the creation of a mythic bohemian Paris: Émile Zola is said to have modeled one of the scandalous heroines on her, and she lived, drank, and exhibited her work alongside legends like Monet, Degas, and a group of women known as the “lesbian sisterhood of Montmartre.”

After more than a decade spent researching Meurent and her world, Brennan painstakingly pieced together clues to tell a fuller picture of her life and reclaim the first pieces of her lost oeuvre, revealed here for the first time. The Parisian Sphinx is an art history puzzle in which Meurent emerges as artist, muse, and woman ahead of her time who defined and defied an era.

31.95 Pre Order
The Parisian Sphinx: A True Story of Art and Obsession

The Parisian Sphinx: A True Story of Art and Obsession

by Summer Brennan
The Parisian Sphinx: A True Story of Art and Obsession

The Parisian Sphinx: A True Story of Art and Obsession

by Summer Brennan

Audio MP3 on CD(MP3 on CD)

(Not eligible for purchase using B&N Audiobooks Subscription credits)
$31.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
    Available for Pre-Order. This item will be released on March 4, 2025
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Store Pickup available after publication date.

Related collections and offers


Overview

A gripping art history cold case: the previously untold story of Victorine Meurent, forgotten painter and famous muse to artists from Manet to Toulouse-Lautrec, and the modern search for her lost paintings

When former art student and journalist Summer Brennan learned that Édouard Manet’s favorite model from such iconic works as Olympia and Lunch on the Grass had been a painter in her own right, but that all of her paintings had been lost, she couldn’t resist the allure of the mystery.

Appearing in more than thirty surviving works by her era’s most famous academic, impressionist, and post-impressionist artists, Victorine Meurent was part of the creation of a mythic bohemian Paris: Émile Zola is said to have modeled one of the scandalous heroines on her, and she lived, drank, and exhibited her work alongside legends like Monet, Degas, and a group of women known as the “lesbian sisterhood of Montmartre.”

After more than a decade spent researching Meurent and her world, Brennan painstakingly pieced together clues to tell a fuller picture of her life and reclaim the first pieces of her lost oeuvre, revealed here for the first time. The Parisian Sphinx is an art history puzzle in which Meurent emerges as artist, muse, and woman ahead of her time who defined and defied an era.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781504792523
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Publication date: 03/04/2025
Product dimensions: 5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Summer Brennan is the author of High Heel, An Object Lesson, and The Oyster War, which was a finalist for the 2016 Orion Book Award, among other awards. She is a longtime consultant for the United Nations, and her writing has appeared in the Paris Review, Granta, Longreads, New York Magazine, Scientific American, the London Guardian, McSweeney’s, and elsewhere

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews