The Bridge Between Art and Literature

In this article, each book that I recommend will be accompanied by a painting that fits its theme or subject matter. In the subsequent review, what ties the painting and novel together will then be explained and interwoven. Without further ado, let’s explore this bridge between art and literature!

Tamara de Lempicka’s Autoportrait (Tamara in a Green Bugatti)

TALES FROM THE JAZZ AGE

by F. Scott Fitzgerald 

There is no better artistic match for F. Scott Fitzgerald than Tamara de Lempicka, an Art Deco artist known for her portraits of the wealthy and her own glamorous lifestyle. Like the celebrated author, she is an icon of the Jazz Age and attempted to capture the decade’s excess and luxury in her medium of painting. Fitzgerald’s Tales from the Jazz Age does the same, but in a collection of short stories, plays, and novellas divided into three categories. Because of the diversity of this selection, each story provides something different yet nonetheless rich and enthralling. Some demonstrate how skilled of a humorist Fitzgerald is with his dry wit and outrageous absurdity, while others are more somber and display his classic themes of first love, lost youth, and emptiness amidst the decadence of the Roaring Twenties. Even if you didn’t enjoy The Great Gatsby, there’s still hope here in this captivating alternative.

Marc Chagall’s Around Her

THE MOST PRECIOUS OF CARGOES

by Jean-Claude Grumberg

The work of Marc Chagall, perhaps the greatest Jewish artist of the 20th century, has been hard for critics to define because of its mixture of Cubism, Symbolism, Fauvism, and Surrealism. But what the art world has agreed on is its “Cubist fairy tale” nature. Imagery deeply entrenched with Yiddish culture exists within Chagall’s world of whimsy and color—and Grumber’s book The Most Precious of Cargoes could as well. It’s a fairytale-like novella set during World War II and written by an author whose Jewish heritage, similarly to Chagall, served as the source of his inspiration. Yet despite its familiar beginning of “Once upon a time…” and lyrical prose, its subject matter is far more tragic. The fable follows a baby thrown from a train destined for a concentration camp and into the home of a woodcutter and his childless wife. This staggering contrast between the brutal backdrop of the Holocaust and Grumberg’s fairy tale narration creates an unforgettable read over the course of a mere 128 pages. 

Faith Ringgold’s Tar Beach #2 

HARBOR ME

by Jaqueline Woodson

Both Faith Ringgold and Jaqueline Woodson use their art to tell African-American stories, especially from the perspectives of young girls growing up in urban environments. Ringgold does so through her story quilts that are rich in black history and tradition. Tar Beach #2 in particular tells the imaginative, vibrant narrative of Cassie Louise Lightfoot, a girl who dreams of flying over New York City. Meanwhile, Woodson does so through her poignant, powerful writing as seen in Harbor Me. The book begins with a group of middle-grade students who meet weekly in an old art room and talk about whatever is on their minds without any adults listening in. Despite how different the characters’ backgrounds and troubles are, they slowly become a safe haven for each other to confide in and strengthen. Woodson beautifully celebrates the diverse experience of Brooklyn, and she brings up important conversations centering around race, immigration, family, and loss as well.

Otto Dix’s Night Over the CIty

A MONSTER CALLS

by Patrick Ness

Otto Dix’s Night Over the City might as well have been made for Ness’s A Monster Calls, despite the ninety-eight years that separate their dates of creation. The painting depicts a vaguely unsettling nighttime scene with a brilliant full moon, swirling strokes for clouds, and city buildings situated around a prominent tree. Behind any corner or in any of the shadows could lurk a monster, much like the one who visits the main character of A Monster Calls, Conor, every night at his window overlooking a yew tree. This ancient, terrifying monster tells Conor three stories in exchange that he must tell a story of his own—the truth. Between the alternating stories told and real-life events, the reader grows to understand why the monster is here and what Conor fears the most. Ness creatively and masterfully builds up all this emotion into a crescendo of raw catharsis as Conor comes to terms with his grief for his mother.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Malade la nuit (le patient)

WHO WAS CHANGED AND WHO WAS DEAD

by Barbara Comyns

NOTE: This book contains dark content and violence. It should not be consumed by young readers.

In this painting, German Expressionist Ernest Ludwig Kirchner characteristically renders his figure in a disquieting manner with garish, clashing colors. The figure in question is the artist himself as he lies in bed, unable to sleep because of his persistent sickness. Sickness is also a prevalent theme in Comyn’s book, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead, as villagers in the tranquil English countryside fall prey to a “fatal madness.” One by one, they are struck with feverish hallucinations that lead to untimely, mysterious deaths that doctors and the central Willoweed family try to make sense of. These cases threaten to rip apart the social fabric of the village, who begin to reveal their true deranged selves amidst the mass hysteria. This overlooked classic from the 1950s perfectly combines tragedy and comedy in a way that is all at once bizarre, hilarious, and profoundly disturbing. 

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Tales of the Jazz Age. AmazonClassics, 2019.

Grumberg, Jean-Claude. The Most Precious of Cargoes. HarperVia, 2020.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Harbor Me. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018.

Ness, Patrick, and Siobhan Dowd. A Monster Calls. Candlewick Press, 2011.

Comyns, Barbara. Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead. Dorothy, 2010.

Photo Credits

https://lithub.com/i-cant-look-away-from-these-delirious-paintings-of-anthropomorphized-books/

https://www.wikiart.org/en/tamara-de-lempicka/portrait-in-the-green-bugatti-1925

https://pin.it/3hfC3eDJE

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/tar-beach-2-faith-ringgold/aQGZKjzGoaXfjg

https://pin.it/2xLju21rU

https://www.meisterdrucke.fr/fine-art-prints/Ernst-Ludwig-Kirchner/691819/Malade-la-nuit-%28le-patient%29.html