by Jean Strouse
First published 2024
Asher Wertheimer sits for another portrait session in his London home, surrounded by the wealth that made him one of England's most prominent art dealers. The German-Jewish immigrant has commissioned twelve paintings from John Singer Sargent, transforming their business relationship into an unlikely friendship that spans decades. As Sargent captures the Wertheimer family on canvas, both men navigate the shifting social landscape of Edwardian England, where new money challenges old aristocracy and Jewish families work alongside Rothschilds and royals. The portraits become more than mere commissions when Asher decides to donate most of them to the National Gallery, forcing London society to confront its prejudices. The gift sparks controversy as Jewish faces appear beside centuries of Anglo-Saxon nobility. Through these intimate sessions and grand gestures, the story reveals how art becomes a battleground for social transformation, following the intertwined fates of artist and patron against the backdrop of a world rushing toward modernity.
Genres: art, historical-fiction, 20th-century, art-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-friends, social-transformation
Setting: London, National Gallery
Period: Edwardian Era
430 pages · Kindle Edition · Farrar, Straus and Giroux