The Artist begins in 1957 with a woman gazing at a painting she knows intimately in London’s National Gallery before winding back to the summer of 1920 when a young art journalist travels to Provence, hoping to interview the renowned and notoriously reclusive Edouard Tartuffe. He’s somewhat taken aback when the irascible artist demands that he model for a portrait, brusquely agreeing that Joseph can write about him in return. Tata's every need is attended to by Ettie, so self-effacing Joesph barely notices her at first. Ettie has hardly left the remote farmhouse where she and her uncle live, filled with a longing to experience the world and explore the talent her uncle has done his best to squash. As the summer wears on, Joseph unravels a perplexing mystery and Ettie sees a way for her talent to be recognised.
Steeds’ debut is gorgeously immersive, the summer Provencal landscape and the food it produces vividly evoked. Her descriptions of art are arresting as you might expect from a writer whose day job is lecturing on the subject. The novel’s overarching theme is the age-old dismissal of women’s artistic talent, still alive and kicking in the early twentieth century, skilfully explored through gripping storytelling, replete with small reveals, including a very satisfying one following a scene in which a female collector puts her boorish male companions firmly in their ignorant place. Clever title, too. I'm keen to see what Steeds comes up with next.