The Portrait

7 hrs. 0 min.

Language Russian

Author Iain Pears

Narrator Alexey Bagdasarov

Description

“Portrait” is a delightful intellectual detective novel by Ian Pears about a crime in the world of art. A refined feast for the soul and the brain: a dark and unsettling story set at the turn of the 20th century. Painter Henry McAlpin left London—where critics and gallery owners celebrated him, and his works were exhibited alongside canvases by Cézanne and Van Gogh. Tragedy forced him to live as a recluse on a remote island. Four years later, he receives his first visitor: the influential art critic William Nashmith comes to pose for a portrait. While the artist tries to capture Nashmith’s true character on canvas, he remembers the years of their friendship, the critic’s patronage, and the cold-blooded betrayals. The artist’s work is more than a portrait—it is a sentence. Just as ruthless as the critical notes of his guest. Now the artist is judging, and on the painting’s surface emerges a history of hypocrisy, forbidden love, suicide, and revenge.