BOOKS inspired by ART

Giorgio de CHIRICO’s oil painting  
THE ENIGMA OF ARRIVAL AND THE AFTERNOON 
(Privately owned)
was painted in Paris in 1912. The French poet Guillaume Apollinaire gave
the painting its title.

Nobel Prize winner V.S NAIPAUL’s 

cold, bereft, partly autobiographical book 

can be fully appreciated only by an immigrant.
Its title, THE ENIGMA OF ARRIVAL, 

was inspired by the sail, hinting at arrival,

 in CHIRICO’s eponymous painting.

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THE GOLDFINCH (HET PUTTERTJE),
Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands.
Oil on panel, a trompe-l’oeil painted by Dutchman 
Carel FABRITIUS in 1654, 
the year of his death.

In the 17th century, goldfinches were
popular pets because they
could be trained to draw 
water from a bowl with a 
miniature bucket.

The Fabritius painting is a key element in
Donna TART’s 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning 

novel THE GOLDFINCH
 ““The Goldfinch” is a rarity that comes along
 perhaps half a dozen times per decade,
 a smartly written literary novel that
 connects with the heart
 as well as the mind.” –
 Stephen King

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THE GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (MEISJE MET DE PAREL) Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands1665 tronie oil painting by Dutchman Johannes VERMEER. 
Thought to be a portrait of his
daughter.

THE GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
by Tracey CHEVALIER tells the story of 

Griet, whose life is transformed by

 her brief encounter with genius...
even as she herself is 

immortalized... 

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>> See also ART inspired by BOOKS <<

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