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andthebeanstalk's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this, it ticked so many of my boxes - art, poetry, history, royalty...
I enjoyed the framing device with the contemporary narrator and the writing style worked for me, artistic dashes and all. The story did feel a bit oblique at times, losing some steam, more of the political machinations and wider context would have helped here. But the writing and imagery was all so gorgeously wrought, and the insights through the painter's eye were fascinating.
I enjoyed the framing device with the contemporary narrator and the writing style worked for me, artistic dashes and all. The story did feel a bit oblique at times, losing some steam, more of the political machinations and wider context would have helped here. But the writing and imagery was all so gorgeously wrought, and the insights through the painter's eye were fascinating.
iyowe's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
This book is like a piece of art in itself. A fascinating account of Velazquez's time in the Spanish court, Velazquez the steady constant amongst the countless courtiers falling in and out of favour with King Philip IV. It's written in a stream of consciousness style with interjections from a modern day narrator which, on a couple of occasions, made it a bit difficult to follow. Definitely a challenging read but enjoyable too.
roseofoulesfame's review against another edition
4.0
This is an extraordinary book - partly a fangirl's tribute to Velasquez and his work (I did a LOT of Google image searches while reading this - a visit to the Prado is clearly long overdue), partly a step back through time into 17th century Spain, partly a melancholy reflection on mortality as we see Philip IV's legacy inevitably, inexorably, crumbling around him (this is basically the beginning of the end of the Spanish Habsburg line...Charles II of Spain anyone?). Also, the writing is mesmerising.
Not a book I would have picked out for myself ordinarily, so many thanks to the Wigtown Book Festival for including it in the box of books I received last year!
Not a book I would have picked out for myself ordinarily, so many thanks to the Wigtown Book Festival for including it in the box of books I received last year!
kirstieellen's review against another edition
Writing was really hard to understand. It was like a stream of consciousness cut off in weird places, making it difficult to know who the narrator was. And there was little to no plot.
theladyreads's review against another edition
4.0
This one is such a conundrum. Very frustrating. I both loved it and yet found it incredibly difficult to read and maintain an interest in. At first it is difficult to get into, as it is written in a choppy, frantic manner, and more disconcertingly, it disrupts itself constantly, suspending the reality that was being painted, which is charming in its way but mostly annoying. The pictures, I didn’t get. I don’t understand what they added, even in a novel about pictures they did not feel relevant. It’s a story created from the paintings left behind by Diego Velasquez, painter to Philip IV. We see the world through Diego’s eyes, what he would have seen, what he might have thought, how he suspended these small moments in time forever by preserving them in paint.
Beautiful but overly fussy; there are many detailed, flowing, never ending sentences, disjointed fragments, and not a lot of plot; it’s all in the style with this one. I love the fact that it’s an ode to painting, one long painting of sentences itself, to honour a great painter and the act of painting, what it leaves behind, a record of history. However there’s no emotional investment in the series of historical events happening.
Beautiful but overly fussy; there are many detailed, flowing, never ending sentences, disjointed fragments, and not a lot of plot; it’s all in the style with this one. I love the fact that it’s an ode to painting, one long painting of sentences itself, to honour a great painter and the act of painting, what it leaves behind, a record of history. However there’s no emotional investment in the series of historical events happening.
scottishclaire's review against another edition
4.0
A gentle read with beautiful prose, focused on observations and impressions of 17th century Spain. I’d never have picked this to read but it was recommended and I’m glad I gave it a go.
lonesomereader's review against another edition
5.0
One of my highlights of visiting Madrid for the first time was being able to go to the Museo del Prado and see Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece Las Meninas in person. This is a painting I’d studied in art history at university and appreciated for its technique, but there’s something so arresting about seeing it in person with its odd composition and the confrontational stares from several figures depicted. So I was enticed to read Amy Sackville’s most recent novel because it portrays the life of Velázquez in his appointment to the royal court of King Philip IV of Spain. I wasn’t prepared for what a unique take the author gives on the historical novel which doesn’t simply tell the story the painter, the king and people associated with his court, but Sackville inserts her own voice and invites the reader to participate as well. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Patricia Duncker’s “Sophie and the Sybil” which depicts George Eliot’s tangled relationships as well as Duncker’s own feelings towards Eliot. In “Painter to the King” we’re led through Velázquez’s major paintings and shown the scenes and social milieu they sprung out of. But we’re also drawn to focus on certain aspects of the paintings (as pictorial details are reproduced throughout the text) and paintings which have been lost but which we know about through historical references. Sackville queries the gaps in history and the way the figures involved wanted their images and time period to be remembered. It forms such an original take on the past which invites the reader to participate in looking at its many layers as well as enjoying the experience of it in the story.
Read my full review of Painter to the King by Amy Sackville on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of Painter to the King by Amy Sackville on LonesomeReader
roba's review against another edition
4.0
This is an amazing piece of historical fiction writing. It's almost more a work of art history than a novel - and I have to admit, I lost some interest towards the end (once you've made your point that historical traces are incomplete and you can never know what actually happened, maybe have some Vikings attack or something?)... but that may be more because I approached it expecting more of a story. But the imaginative exercise is really impressive.
joecam79's review against another edition
5.0
Every so often, a novel comes along that challenges one’s expectations of the genre. Amy Sackville’s Painter to the King is one such work. It is, ostensibly, a fictional biography of Diego Velázquez, covering in particular the decades he spent in the service of King Philip IV of Spain and the relationship which developed between the artist and the monarch who was his royal/loyal patron. Sackville is surprisingly faithful to the ‘facts’, even down to what may seem trivial historical details. Yet, her novel is by no means a straightforward retelling of the life of Velázquez. For a start, she adopts a sort of stream of consciousness narration – which is often breathless and febrile, on occasion seemingly tentative or improvisatory. It feels as if we have stepped into a painting which is taking shape or as if we’re standing behind the painter, watching as he sketches at his easel. This impression is strengthened by the very ‘visual’ descriptions, full of colour and movement and the play of light and dark. Indeed, the chapters often have the atmosphere of a tableau, a scene ready to be set down for posterity.
At intervals, the third person approach is interrupted by the narrator intruding with her own ruminations. One should always be wary of identifying the author with the novel’s subject, but it is difficult not to see Sackville herself in the thirty-something narrator embarking on a literary pilgrimage on the steps of Velázquez. It is an inspired touch gives the novel a personal meaning and reveals it as a labour of love. At the same time, however, it can be taken as a warning that, despite all endeavours at authenticity, it is difficult, if not impossible, to recreate the past and particularly the thoughts and feelings of historical figures. This novel is, indeed, biographical and historical but is equally a very contemporary ‘imagining’ of the past.
And this brings us to the heart of what is, ultimately, a highly philosophical novel. I felt Painter to the King to be an exploration of the correlation between art and artifice, truth and reality, public personas and private feelings. The characters the novel are constantly preoccupied as to what will survive after their death – the King’s obsession with having his portraits painting is a way of ensuring his memory remains. But even though Diego is notorious for his devastating honesty and his inability to “lie” in his portraits, can we be sure that the King we know is not shaped by the painter’s imagination, just as Diego and his monarch speak to us through Sackville’s prose?
I found this to be a challenging novel, one which I read over a number of weeks alongside less demanding fare. But it is an impressive achievement and I would be surprised and disappointed if this is not – deservedly – recognised when the time for literary awards arrives.
Read more at https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2018/08/portrait-of-artist-painter-to-king-by.html
At intervals, the third person approach is interrupted by the narrator intruding with her own ruminations. One should always be wary of identifying the author with the novel’s subject, but it is difficult not to see Sackville herself in the thirty-something narrator embarking on a literary pilgrimage on the steps of Velázquez. It is an inspired touch gives the novel a personal meaning and reveals it as a labour of love. At the same time, however, it can be taken as a warning that, despite all endeavours at authenticity, it is difficult, if not impossible, to recreate the past and particularly the thoughts and feelings of historical figures. This novel is, indeed, biographical and historical but is equally a very contemporary ‘imagining’ of the past.
And this brings us to the heart of what is, ultimately, a highly philosophical novel. I felt Painter to the King to be an exploration of the correlation between art and artifice, truth and reality, public personas and private feelings. The characters the novel are constantly preoccupied as to what will survive after their death – the King’s obsession with having his portraits painting is a way of ensuring his memory remains. But even though Diego is notorious for his devastating honesty and his inability to “lie” in his portraits, can we be sure that the King we know is not shaped by the painter’s imagination, just as Diego and his monarch speak to us through Sackville’s prose?
I found this to be a challenging novel, one which I read over a number of weeks alongside less demanding fare. But it is an impressive achievement and I would be surprised and disappointed if this is not – deservedly – recognised when the time for literary awards arrives.
Read more at https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2018/08/portrait-of-artist-painter-to-king-by.html