The novel weaves the stories of the 17th century painter (Sara de Vos), the contemporary inheritor, and an art historian who has made her career on the back of that single painting.

(Landscapes were never painted by 17th Dutch women because the form requires long hours spent outside.) The painting goes missing in 1950s New York. So my novel came out of imagining a 17th century landscape by a woman with a single surviving work.

Meanwhile, many women artists have been lost in the historical record-for centuries people through Judith Leyster's paintings were those of Frans Hals. Luke (which counted Rembrandt among its members) admitted some 25 women during the 1600s, but only a handful of artists have surviving works. I have always been fascinated with 17th Dutch art but found it peculiar that very few paintings by women had survived. I …more My forthcoming novel, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2016) had its genesis ten years ago when I was living in Amsterdam. moreĭominic Smith My forthcoming novel, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2016) had its genesis ten years ago when I was living in Amsterdam. More information can be found on his website. He teaches writing in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. He has received literature fellowships from the Australia Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Dominic's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Chicago Tribune, Texas Monthly, The Australian, and The New York Times. He is the author of five novels, including The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. More information can be found on his website: Dominic grew up in Sydney, Australia and now lives in Seattle, Washington. Dominic grew up in Sydney, Australia and now lives in Seattle, Washington.

The painting of sara de vos