Artists and readers alike will be intrigued by Susan Vreeland at the special Lunch With Author series luncheon on Monday, March 10, 2008 to be held at the Colleton River Plantation Clubhouse, Bluffton. Vreeland will give an account of how she constructs novels that imagine – with historical accuracy – the lives behind the world’s greatest painters and paintings.
In her latest novel, Luncheon of the Boating Party, Vreeland focuses on one of the most well-known and accomplished Impressionist painters, Auguste Renoir. Instantly recognizable as one of the world’s most beloved paintings, Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party portrays fourteen vibrant and fascinating individuals enjoying a summer Sunday along the Seine River.
In Luncheon of the Boating Party, Vreeland brings to vivid life the subjects in Renoir’s painting. The fourteen animated characters include: a wealthy painter and collector of Impressionist paintings; a former lover of Renoir; a mime at the Folies Bergère; an avant-garde poet; a model for Degas as well as Renoir; a celebrated actress; a keen boating competitor; a former cavalry officer and war hero. All these people were Renoir’s friends as well as models, their lives here deeply researched and compassionately rendered to enrich our enjoyment of the painting.
Susan Vreeland is an internationally renowned best-selling author and three-time winner of the Theodor Geisel Award for Fiction (the San Diego Book Award’s highest honor), is known for historical fiction on art-related themes. She is the author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue, The Passion of Artemisia, The Forest Lover, and a collection of stories about artists, Life Studies. Vreeland’s works have been translated into twenty-five languages.
Vreeland’s appearance is sponsored by the University of South Carolina Beaufort Continuing Education and reservations can be made by calling 521-4147 or kingsley@uscb.ed. The all-inclusive price (lunch, talk, Q&A) is $50. Books will be available for purchase as well as book signing.
