Thrillers & Suspense
![María Gainza - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B07CSGLT9M.jpg)
Portrait of an Unknown Lady: A Novel
New York Times Notable author María Gainza, who dazzled critics with Optic Nerve, returns with the captivating story of an auction house employee on the trail of an enigmatic master forger
In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she specializes in canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentinean high society. But who is this absurdly gifted creator of counterfeits? What motivates her? And what is her link to the community of artists who congregate, night after night, in a strange establishment called the Hotel Melancólico?
On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation, she warns us "not to proceed in expectation of names, numbers or dates . . . My techniques are those of the impressionist."
Driven by obsession and full of subtle surprise, Portrait of an Unknown Lady is a highly seductive and enveloping meditation on what we mean by "authenticity" in art, and a captivating exploration of the gap between what is lived and what is told.
In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she specializes in canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentinean high society. But who is this absurdly gifted creator of counterfeits? What motivates her? And what is her link to the community of artists who congregate, night after night, in a strange establishment called the Hotel Melancólico?
On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation, she warns us "not to proceed in expectation of names, numbers or dates . . . My techniques are those of the impressionist."
Driven by obsession and full of subtle surprise, Portrait of an Unknown Lady is a highly seductive and enveloping meditation on what we mean by "authenticity" in art, and a captivating exploration of the gap between what is lived and what is told.
Editorial Reviews
A Town and Country Must-Read Book of Spring
A CrimeReads Best International Crime Book of the Month
"The unnamed narrator in Portrait of an Unknown Lady, María Gainza's crepuscular but dreamy novel, looks back over a life led in the shadow of imposture . . . The naughty pleasure of this novel is bound up in our fascination with fakes, especially when executed in the cavalier mode of Robin Hood." -Angus Trumble, The New York Times Book Review
"Argentine art critic and novelist María Gainza's Portrait of an Unknown Lady takes an unorthodox perspective on the modern-art market, offering a kind of homage to the underworld of forgery . . . Ms. Gainza proves herself a dab hand at concisely digesting artists' lives, finding delight in idiosyncrasy and social rebellion." -Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
"María Gainza's Portrait of an Unknown Lady, translated from Spanish by Thomas Bunstead, takes a more philosophical look at the art world by questioning what constitutes an artist. The titular portrait is figurative; our narrator, a disillusioned art critic in Buenos Aires using the nom de plume María Lydis, is investigating a mysterious figure . . . Bunstead's colorful translation reads at times as an adventure serial, at times as a hard-boiled noir, and throughout it all, María uses her wit, erudition and sass to suss out the true meaning of art." -Cory Oldweiler, The Washington Post
"Gainza weaves a fascinating, often confounding story about beauty, obsession and authenticity . . . Like Bolaño, she writes stories within stories, each with its own melancholy mood and unsolvable mystery . . . A novel with many beautiful, confounding moments. Maria Gainza is sharp, modern and playful, a writer who multiplies the possibilities for fiction." -Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Guardian
"A truly exquisite novel . . . moving, clever and written with a wry precision." -Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman
"There's a lot to like in Portrait of an Unknown Lady, from the slick Argentinian high-society setting, to the lovely writing and laudable translation from Bunstead." -Ian J. Battaglia, Chicago Review of Books
"Intelligent and tensile . . . A loose investigation into the nature of art and of memory, scattered with gems of intrigue and insight." -Emily Temple, Lit Hub, One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year
"A mesmerizing deep dive into the art world through a neo-noir female detective's quest to find a forger in Buenos Aires . . . Dreamy and atmospheric . . . Portrait of an Unknown Lady, eschewing structure and neat plot convention for vibrant language and a hypnotic voice, complicates rather than clarifies the stories that are told about eni...
A CrimeReads Best International Crime Book of the Month
"The unnamed narrator in Portrait of an Unknown Lady, María Gainza's crepuscular but dreamy novel, looks back over a life led in the shadow of imposture . . . The naughty pleasure of this novel is bound up in our fascination with fakes, especially when executed in the cavalier mode of Robin Hood." -Angus Trumble, The New York Times Book Review
"Argentine art critic and novelist María Gainza's Portrait of an Unknown Lady takes an unorthodox perspective on the modern-art market, offering a kind of homage to the underworld of forgery . . . Ms. Gainza proves herself a dab hand at concisely digesting artists' lives, finding delight in idiosyncrasy and social rebellion." -Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
"María Gainza's Portrait of an Unknown Lady, translated from Spanish by Thomas Bunstead, takes a more philosophical look at the art world by questioning what constitutes an artist. The titular portrait is figurative; our narrator, a disillusioned art critic in Buenos Aires using the nom de plume María Lydis, is investigating a mysterious figure . . . Bunstead's colorful translation reads at times as an adventure serial, at times as a hard-boiled noir, and throughout it all, María uses her wit, erudition and sass to suss out the true meaning of art." -Cory Oldweiler, The Washington Post
"Gainza weaves a fascinating, often confounding story about beauty, obsession and authenticity . . . Like Bolaño, she writes stories within stories, each with its own melancholy mood and unsolvable mystery . . . A novel with many beautiful, confounding moments. Maria Gainza is sharp, modern and playful, a writer who multiplies the possibilities for fiction." -Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Guardian
"A truly exquisite novel . . . moving, clever and written with a wry precision." -Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman
"There's a lot to like in Portrait of an Unknown Lady, from the slick Argentinian high-society setting, to the lovely writing and laudable translation from Bunstead." -Ian J. Battaglia, Chicago Review of Books
"Intelligent and tensile . . . A loose investigation into the nature of art and of memory, scattered with gems of intrigue and insight." -Emily Temple, Lit Hub, One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year
"A mesmerizing deep dive into the art world through a neo-noir female detective's quest to find a forger in Buenos Aires . . . Dreamy and atmospheric . . . Portrait of an Unknown Lady, eschewing structure and neat plot convention for vibrant language and a hypnotic voice, complicates rather than clarifies the stories that are told about eni...
Readers Top Reviews
kathleen gGorilichis
Know in advance that there is no straight line narrative in this unusual and challenging novel about fraud in the art world. And other things. The unnamed narrator is in search of Renee, who is the alleged forger of portraits Argentinian VIPS by Marietta Lydis. Who is Renee? Is Renee male or female? Why is Renee forging the paintings? The narrator has been responsible for authenticating paintings for a bank so she's more aware than most of the perfidy of the art business. But she's up front about how this is impressionistic, which means the reader is left to sort things out from what began to feel like a mish mash (court documents?). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Fans of world and literary fiction might want to give this a try.
