L'Origine

This is a fascinating book on a number of levels. It’s an interesting recounting of the history of a particular piece of art - worth a read just for that, when you consider the paths this picture has travelled. It’s a well written story, even if it was not based in fact. And, perhaps most of all, it is a challenging reflection on society’s relationship with the female body and the taboos with which it is associated. This book will really make you think about your own attitudes and biases. It will make you uncomfortable, perhaps, but ultimately it will make you reflect on why the female form is so confronting and why history has supported that. Well written, carefully researched and definitely worth reading even if you are not a fan of the art genre.

I had a brief affair with art history as a subject. I say brief it lasted one lecture. But no education is wasted. It gave me a fresh appreciation of art, a little more understanding and I have kept an open mind since. A recent TV show uncovering “lost” masterpieces fascinated me. Just how long is the road to authenticate any works revealed in this way and the importance of Provenance.
So this book had all the basic ingredients. A scandalous piece of art, fashioned in 1866, decades ahead of trend, as it reproduces the most intimate portrait of a female model ever conceived, commissioned for a male client, for his eyes only. How had it survived over the subsequent years when today if it were a photograph it would be in a top shelf magazine?

The concept for a book was not the author’s thought when she encountered the “L’Origine du monde” in a gallery in Paris. As an artist it was to be able to copy the masterpiece and thus in 2011 she began a close association with this controversial portrait.
The book tells of how serendipitously these events were and have become as she recounts her time in Paris copying the work of ark. Later as she researched it’s provenance she pieced together a fascinating story that revealed how and why this painting would survive. Her interest as an artist, made her a determined investigator into the forgotten history of Courbet’s work which later birthed her, into becoming a novelist.

It is such a colourful story that it deserves this fictitious gloss to arc and allow the narrative to flow; rather than a cold non-fiction art historian approach.
Lilianne writes well and the diary of events she shares are little pen biographies of the characters linked with, and whose paths crossed this work of art. Using this technique she is able to reflect and show some of the issues over time the subject matter stirred and the shocking lewd elements in engendered in male observers and why women’s opinions were mixed and more reasoned.

Without doubt all who regarded the work were moved emotionally and many understood it’s place in art history.

I enjoyed these exchanges over the decades as times and fashions change. It is startling to see the power women have over male libido while generally lacking any authority and status as human beings to control their own destinies. This plays into the growing liberation of female identity and respect, but true equality has yet to be achieved. This isn’t a political book, again the fictional overlaying leaves no room for such conclusions but as the hints for book clubs promote there is much to learn and discuss regardless of your gender.

The author does have the heart of a writer; her thoughts are well conceived and translated in her story telling. I enjoyed the book beyond any salacious voyeurism or male teenage response. The book does convey the power of this particular piece of art and the subject it depicts. But it also gives insight into a world of artists and creative talent who coalesced at times to move their ideas forward. I found the fact that Courbet wanted to bring realism into his craft enlightening. How we are indebted to those who supported artist groups, sponsored their work and saw beyond a financial investment and return , to see art for it’s own sake. These truths of innovation and creativity are just as important to our civilisation as are political expression, scientific discovery and ethical debate.

This book gave a real sense of a less taught history, a forgotten and less frequented world which came alive through Milgrom’s words and enhanced my reading pleasure in both subject and understanding.

this was a really interesting read, the characters were interesting and I really enjoyed going through this book.

A fascinating book
"L'origine du monde" relates the captivating and fascinating story of un artwork from the french painter Gustave Courbet.
I highly recommend this book

Anyone who has visited the #museedorsay has probably spent some time transfixed by #loriginedumonde by #courbet. I certainly was the first time I saw it and then was shocked to realize how small the painting is on my second viewing more than a decade later. In my memory it had taken up a whole wall but after reading this novel all about the history of the painting I realize it had to be a smaller canvas. This is a fascinating read that provides the history of how such a controversial painting ended up finally being a prize piece in a museum collection. The author’s connection to the painting is also an interesting aspect of the story. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for those interested in #arthistory.