“What moved her brush was whatever impulse issued from her core, the spark created by the intersection of whatever was in the room and outside it, in her head and outside it, her mood and the weather, the political climate and the condition of her stomach.”

I love art. Not that I can draw a recognizable apple — but I love looking at paintings and wondering what the artist was feeling when he or she applied paint to canvas. So I re-read Kate Christensen’s sentence in The Great Man over and over looking for better understanding. And I found what I guess I knew — that whatever talent and experience a painter has is overshadowed by the undefinable mood and emotion of that moment. I think I’ll stay an art appreciator.

This novel paints fascinating characters and tells the story of a great painter after his death through the women in his life.