HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, dearest Reddies, I do not have to describe to you the joys of research. And how always, always, you find not only what you were looking for, but always always something you never could have predicted.
Our our darling Gigi Pandian had that experience--and it will surprise you--and also leave you fuming and furious.
The true history--women artists erased from history
By Gigi Pandian
Thanks for inviting me to be here today, Hank! I’m delighted to be celebrating having a new book out this month: THE ALCHEMIST OF BRUSHSTROKES AND BRIMSTONE, my 8th Accidental Alchemist novel.
By Gigi Pandian
Thanks for inviting me to be here today, Hank! I’m delighted to be celebrating having a new book out this month: THE ALCHEMIST OF BRUSHSTROKES AND BRIMSTONE, my 8th Accidental Alchemist novel.
More than perhaps any of my other books, I went down a deep and winding rabbit hole of research for this one — so much so that my initial outline went entirely out the window! — so I thought I’d share one of the fascinating historical stories that blew my mind when I encountered it.
One of my favorite things about writing is historical research — except that I need to remind myself to stop researching to write! My initial story plan had me digging into the history of poisonous pigments and paints, which do feature prominently in the book, but then I got waylaid by the story of Judith Leyster.
Have you heard of Judith Leyster? She was a Dutch artist from the 1600s, widely acclaimed during her lifetime — until future historians wrote her out of history.
Have you heard of Judith Leyster? She was a Dutch artist from the 1600s, widely acclaimed during her lifetime — until future historians wrote her out of history.
Though she was famous during her lifetime, after her death art historians attributed her work to either her husband (Jan Miense Molenaer) or renowned artist Frans Hals, whose paintings were somewhat similar in style to hers.
Thus, instead of becoming one of the artists we learn about in history books, for over 200 years she was written out of history. I dug deeper, and the story of her rediscovery is something straight out of fiction.
In 1892, a painting known as The Happy Couple was sold to a British art dealer. It bore the signature of Frans Hals. But on closer inspection, Hals’ signature looked suspicious. The painting was tested, revealing that a forged Hals signature had been added on top of Judith Leyster’s signature. Leyster signed her paintings with a distinctive monogram, and it was clearly one of her paintings. A court case followed.
Thus, instead of becoming one of the artists we learn about in history books, for over 200 years she was written out of history. I dug deeper, and the story of her rediscovery is something straight out of fiction.
In 1892, a painting known as The Happy Couple was sold to a British art dealer. It bore the signature of Frans Hals. But on closer inspection, Hals’ signature looked suspicious. The painting was tested, revealing that a forged Hals signature had been added on top of Judith Leyster’s signature. Leyster signed her paintings with a distinctive monogram, and it was clearly one of her paintings. A court case followed.
And here’s the wildest part of the court case: The art dealer who’d been tricked went to court not because of the forged signature itself, but rather, his argument was that the painting, by virtue of being by Franz Hals instead of Judith Leyster, was now worthless!
 |
| (ed note: and here it is from the Louvre from Wiki) |
That so-called “worthless” painting? It now hangs in the Louvre.
That historical wrong has been corrected, but there are many stories out there like it. So many that there’s a movement of art historians working to find other historical coverups, and to unearth artwork that’s buried in basements of museums because the works of art are by “unknown” women artists instead of famous painters in existing history books.
After going down that rabbit hole, my planned plot didn’t go exactly as expected, but I’m thrilled with how it turned out. Pigments gardens and poisoned paints set the stage for an even deeper mystery than I’d first intended — with alchemist Zoe Faust solving a mystery that sets the historical record straight about a woman who’d been written out of history.
HANK and GIGI: What do you think? Do you have a favorite piece of little-known history? Or something you have a feeling we’ve yet to discover?
About THE ALCHEMIST OF BRUSHSTROKES AND BRIMSTONE
A stolen masterpiece. A brilliant woman written out of history. And a recipe for a lost color worth killing for.
In the spellbinding eighth installment of the Accidental Alchemist Mysteries, centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust and living gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin face their most colorful case yet!
Zoe’s hard-won peaceful life is shattered when a devious thief targets her most prized possession—a vibrant portrait that’s her last connection to her long-dead brother. It’s a painting that also holds the secrets of a forgotten artist who created recipes for the most breathtaking colors ever seen.
When the canvas disappears and murder follows, Zoe must unravel a palette of deadly puzzles. With her quick-witted sidekick Dorian and their eclectic group of friends, Zoe races to catch a killer, evade a secret society, and recover her beloved painting. But the quest is bigger than solving a present-day crime. Can Zoe finally set the historical record straight for a gifted painter erased from the history of art?
In the spellbinding eighth installment of the Accidental Alchemist Mysteries, centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust and living gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin face their most colorful case yet!
Zoe’s hard-won peaceful life is shattered when a devious thief targets her most prized possession—a vibrant portrait that’s her last connection to her long-dead brother. It’s a painting that also holds the secrets of a forgotten artist who created recipes for the most breathtaking colors ever seen.
When the canvas disappears and murder follows, Zoe must unravel a palette of deadly puzzles. With her quick-witted sidekick Dorian and their eclectic group of friends, Zoe races to catch a killer, evade a secret society, and recover her beloved painting. But the quest is bigger than solving a present-day crime. Can Zoe finally set the historical record straight for a gifted painter erased from the history of art?
Out now in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats (the narrator of the audiobooks for the whole series is fantastic!).
About Gigi Pandian
About Gigi Pandian
Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling and multi-award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. She’s been awarded Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Derringer awards, and been a finalist for the Edgar. Gigi writes the Accidental Alchemist mysteries (humorous mysteries with a touch of magic), Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries (lighthearted adventures steeped in history), and Secret Staircase mysteries (locked-room mysteries called “wildly entertaining” by the New York Times Book Review). She lives in Northern California with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over their backyard garden. For bookish fun, sign up for her email newsletter at gigipandian.com.
That is a truly amazing travesty, Gigi . . . so sad that the art folks felt the need to do that. [And does anyone know why they stopped giving Olympic medals for art????]
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new book . . . .
My favorite little-known historical fact is that ketchup was once sold as medicine . . . .
Ketchup!? I had no idea!
DeleteUnlike earlier condiments, the primary ingredient in ketchup in the early 1800s was tomatoes . . . Doctor John Cook Bennett claimed ketchup could treat such things as jaundice, diarrhea, indigestion, and had healing powers that could cure tuberculosis. So ketchup was sold as medicine in the 1830s . . . .
DeleteWow, my first thought was that ketchup as medicine is so unexpected, but if people weren't getting enough vegetables...
DeleteTwo fabulous tidbits! Tell us more!
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Smithsonian, between 1912 and 1952, Olympic medals were awarded for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, and music, given to fine arts inspired by athletic endeavors . . . .
DeleteI learned that fun fact about the Olympics when the latest one happened earlier this year!
DeleteCongratulations on the new book, Gigi - I love that series! I did not know about Leyster - wow. I'm sure there are plenty more women of accomplishment whose work and deeds were hidden and not acknowledged. I occasionally read about a previously unacknowledged astronomer or spy or early computer pioneer, but their names escape me at the moment.
ReplyDeleteAlso - early formulations of Coca Cola contained extract of coca leaves - where cocaine comes from.
DeleteIsn’t that remarkable? Amazing.
DeleteThanks, Edith! Yes, so many unacknowledged and unattributed artists... And great fact about Coca Cola ;)
Delete(Oops, that comment published as "Anonymous," so trying once more!) Thanks, Edith! Yes, so many unacknowledged and unattributed artists... And great fact about Coca Cola ;)
DeleteHere’s my pitch for an overlooked historical figure. Doc Adams should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. https://docadamsbaseball.org/
ReplyDeleteFor people who can’t look that up, tell us more!
DeleteOh, I hadn't heard of Doc Adams!
DeleteDaniel Lucius "Doc" Adams (November 1, 1814 – January 3, 1899) was an American baseball player and executive who is regarded by historians as an important figure in the sport's early years. For most of his career he was a member of the New York Knickerbockers. He first played for the New York Base Ball Club in 1840 and started his Knickerbockers career five years later, continuing to play for the club into his forties and to take part in inter-squad practice games and matches against opposing teams. Researchers have called Adams the creator of the shortstop position, which he used to field short throws from outfielders. In addition to his playing career, Adams manufactured baseballs and oversaw bat production; he also occasionally acted as an umpire.
DeleteFrom 1847 to 1861, the Knickerbockers selected Adams as their president six times, and as a vice president, treasurer, or director in six other years. As president of the club, Adams was an advocate of rule changes in baseball that resulted in nine-man teams and nine-inning games. When the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was formed in 1858, he led the rules and regulations committee of the new organization. In his role, Adams ruled that the fields' bases should be 90 feet (27 m) apart, the modern distance, and supported the elimination of the "bound rule", which allowed for balls caught after one bounce to be recorded as outs. He resigned from his positions with the Knickerbockers and NABBP in 1862. Adams' contributions in creating baseball's rules went largely unrecognized for decades after his 1899 death, but in 1980 a letter about him appeared in The New York Times; by 1993, researcher John Thorn had written about Adams' role. Other historians have given him credit for helping to develop the sport, and Thorn has called Adams "first among the Fathers of Baseball".[1]
A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Medical School, Adams began working in the medical field in the late 1830s, and practiced in New York City during his time as a member of the Knickerbockers. In 1865, he left medicine and later became a bank president and member of the Connecticut legislature. He and his wife had five children.
While Adams' contributions had received notice from historians, Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton called such reports "somewhat speculative" in nature before 2016.[88] That year, the 1857 "Laws of Base Ball" authored by Adams were sold at an auction. The documents were included in a batch of historical papers that brought $12,000 in a 1999 sale. Adams' authorship of the papers was unknown at the time, but was confirmed after the owner brought the documents to the attention of an auction house in 2015.[89] An anonymous buyer purchased the "Laws of Base Ball" in April 2016 for $3.26 million, the most a series of baseball documents had ever sold for.
I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with Doc Adams’ great-granddaughter Marjorie Adams. She led the recent push to get Doc in the Hall of Fame. The last time he was on the ballot he missed getting in by 2 votes. Unfortunately, Marjorie has since passed away. SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) members continue to work to get Doc in the Hall.
DeleteLosing by two votes — ouch!
DeleteWelcome, Gigi! So happy to know that Dorian and Zoe are on the loose again! That duo is wildly inventive, how on earth did you come up with the idea of a talking gargoyle?
ReplyDeleteShe is well-known now as the inventor and co-inventor of what is the basis of today's GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, but Hedy Lamarr's accomplishments in scientific innovation were long overshadowed by her sexy sidekick to Hope and Crosby screen persona for decades. Her idea for making radio signals difficult for the Germans to disrupt made it possible for the Allies to defeat them in WWII. She also figured out a way to make airplanes more aerodynamic.
Because Lamarr was an Austrian immigrant (does this sound familiar?), she was considered an "enemy alien"--and possibly because she was a woman, and denied the right to her own patent, meaning she was never able to benefit from the technology, now worth many billions of dollars. A travesty.
And there was just a book about that, right? Called … I don’t remember. Does anyone?
DeleteThanks, Karen!
DeleteMy living gargoyle is a story of my subconscious. When I was going through chemotherapy just over a decade ago, I found myself writing about an alchemist who'd discovered the Elixir of Life, since chemo was my own elixir of life, and since I didn't think I was writing for anyone besides myself, I threw in a gargoyle because I adore gargoyles and the book needed some levity to make me laugh during that difficult time. I had no idea anyone else would love Dorian as I do, but my agent did!
I love all these stories from history!
Love the idea of Dorian as a healer!
DeleteI love the backstory of Dorian, Gigi! And Karen, I did not know that about Hedy Lamarr!! Fascinating and infuriating, both!
DeleteDorian is definitely a healer for the soul — and the stomach with his recipes :)
DeleteOne of the books about Hedy Lamarr is Hedy's Folly, by Richard Rhodes. I think there's another, as well.
DeleteYou've all made me curious to learn more about Hedy Lamarr!
DeleteInterstingly, Hedy Lamarr was like Leonardo da Vinci, in that the technology to completely implement her idea didn't exist for almost 50 years after she came up with it.
DeleteWelcome Gigi and congrats on the new book. I was going to offer the story of Hedy Lamarr, but Karen beat me to it. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, such an amazing story!
DeleteThanks, Liz!
DeleteMy mom was a camp counselor when Hedy Lamarr’s children went to summer camp. She remembers meeting her on parents’ day visit to camp. And I met one of her grandchildren several years ago. When I met them, I had no idea of the family connection then learned later about the connection. It did not make any difference because I already liked them. I saw a documentary about Hedy Lamarr’s brilliant contribution during the Second World War. I always loved her movies.
DeleteSummer camp — what a fun connection :)
DeleteGIGI: Congratulations on your newest book. I love reading about Zoe and Dorian's adventures. The loss of that painting is multifaceted.
ReplyDeleteSo many Canadian women have been overlooked.
Viola Desmond was Canada's Rosa Parks. In 1946, she refused to leave her seat in a whites-only section of a Nova Scotia theatre's.
For her activism, Rosa was recently honoured by her face appearing on new Canadian $10 bills (purple one).
Oh, I had no idea! Thank you, Grace!
DeleteI hadn't heard of Viola Desmond, Grace. Thanks so much for mentioning her here.
DeleteLast night there was a news story about a woman named Julia Hawkins who just died at age 108. But that's not the only interesting thing about her. She was a competitive sprinter and in 2017 at age 101 set a record for the 100 meter dash in her age group. Then 2021 at age 105 she ran a speedy 100 Meter dash in just over a min. I thought to myself how much competition can there be in racers over age 100? Well I was surprised that there seems to be, not a lot, but quite a few more than I could have imagined. Kudos to all the 100+ runners. That was a big surprise.
ReplyDeleteWell, that is really surprising! I had no idea. This is all so interesting.
DeleteOh wow, now I want to go look up all of these 100+ athletes! That's so cool.
DeleteI just read that this morning! It made me think of this story about the 93 year old world champion indoor rower who didn't take up rowing until his 70s. So inspiring. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/01/16/fitness-aging-richard-morgan/
DeleteOh, thanks for the link! I need to read this inspiring story.
DeleteI know someone whose 90 year old mother does dragon boat racing.
DeleteGIGI: Welcomne to Jungle Reds! I remember seeing you write in the local cafe before the pandemic . Always a delight to see you! Congratulations on your newest novel!
ReplyDeleteLove your Jaya Jones stories. I loved the story set in Scotland.
Little historical fact: If anyone has watched American baseball, then they would notice hand sign communication. It was a Deaf baseball player, Hoy, who introduced Sign Language to baseball. As I recall “Dummy” Hoy was a professional baseball player 100 ? Years ago.
I read an interesting statistic today on Heather Cox Richardson. So far the Harris campaign has spent $34k on sign language interpreting at her events. Her opponent? Zero.
DeleteEdith, thank you so much for sharing. I just got the Heather Cox Richardson blog this morning and have not had a chance to read it yet. On a personal note, I was blessed to meet Kamala at a fundraiser hosted by my friends (from DC) when she was running for Attorney General of California many years ago. Happy to learn that Kamala's campaign supports sign language interpreters.
DeleteHCR is SO brilliant.
DeleteThank you, Diana! I'm about a third of the way through another Jaya, but I just need to find time to write it in between other deadlines!
DeleteThanks for sharing that historical fact. I hadn't known that fact!
And that's great about sign language interpreters being used by the Harris campaign.
I didn't know that about baseball, Diana! And I love that Kamala is using sign language interpreters.
DeleteWilliam Hoy played professional baseball 1888-1902 for various teams. He played 5 seasons for the Cincinnati Red Stockings. He was a center fielder.
DeleteWe had a deaf player for several years on our vintage baseball team at the History Center of Olmsted County in Rochester, MN.
Since I am a naturally curious (or nosy if you prefer) person, I am always interested to find out about all sorts of things in the world. That's especially so if the things turn what we thought we knew upside down or sideways. I think I learn something new every day.
ReplyDeleteBut when I think of all the women and their accomplishments which have been ignored, or worse attributed to men, it is heartbreaking. It bothers me that young women today seem to have no idea how fortunate they are. So things are changing, slowly.
One of the reasons I enjoy mystery fiction so much, both reading and writing it, is because we can get justice in the end in ways that doesn't always exist in the real world.
DeleteYes, and I am fascinated by how the New YOrk Times is doing their "Overlooked" obits.
DeleteYes, those NYT Overlooked obits!!
DeleteSo what else is new? Throughout history women have been blamed and/or erased! Congratulations on your latest book, Gigi! Love that gargoyle.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat! I know, sadly not a surprising story from history.
DeleteYup.
DeleteSometimes getting lost down the rabbit hole can lead to a great "aha" moment. I'm lost down my own at the moment, driven by a little known bit of history that won't let me quit. Gigi's book sounds fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gay. And have fun with that research!
DeleteCannot wait to hear all about it!
DeleteGigi, congrats on the new Zoe and Dorian! I love the series but this one sounds especially enticing and I can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteIt really does!
DeleteAww, thanks!
DeleteGigi, using Judith Leyter (and other forgotten women artists) as inspiration for THE ALCHEMIST OF BRUSHSTROKES AND BRIMSTONE) is fantastic. The history of women who served as "muses" for, of course, male artists is particularly infuriating. Many of them were artists in their own right, like Pre-Raphaelite Elizabeth Siddal and Impressionist Berthe Morisot, but traditionally the only information about them concerns their relationships with their lovers or friends. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteUgh is right!
DeleteAt least there's so much more scholarship on the subject now. Since I sent down the rabbit hole of research, I included a selected bibliography at the end of the novel!
DeleteOoooh, I love it when research turns out to be so much MORE! There are so many moments where women in history are erased. Even Jane Austen never had her name on any of her novels until after her death and only at the insistence of her brother.
ReplyDeleteOh! I didn't know that!
DeleteWhat!? I had no idea about that Jane Austen history!
Delete