The Salon (Paperback)

~ Nick Bertozzi (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bertozzi's long-awaited graphic novel has a brilliant, daffy premise executed with wit and flair. In the Paris of 1907, a salon of later famous Modernists—including Gertrude Stein, Georges Braque, Erik Satie and their sawed-off, potty-mouthed, frequently naked, hilariously arrogant acquaintance Pablo Picasso—discover a stash of secret blue absinthe that allows its drinkers to travel inside paintings, which may hold the key to the demonic creature who's been dismembering avant-gardists. The setting is fertile territory for speculative historical in-jokes, bawdy and action-packed set pieces—especially artistic experimentation in the tradition of its protagonists—Bertozzi plays it to the hilt. His artwork is consistently vigorous, featuring rough, lusty brush strokes, an engaging duotone color scheme that changes from scene to scene, and hilarious mock French sound effects (someone being kicked is rendered "QUIQUE"). But there's also a clever subtext to the book, about the historical moment at which a small group of associates reinvented art, music and literature by thinking intensely about how to represent space and time. Bertozzi dramatizes the origins of Cubism and its links to Gauguin's work, and even suggests how Picasso might have been influenced by comic strips, thus demonstrating the Stein salon's absolute devotion to advancing their art more strikingly than a "real" history could. (Apr.)
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Product Description

In 1907 Paris, when someone starts tearing the heads off avant-garde painters, Gertrude Stein and her brother, Leo, realize that they might be next on the killer's list. Enlisting the help of their closest friends and colleagues, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Erik Satie, Alice B. Toklas, and Guillaume Apollinaire, they set out to put a stop to the ghastly murders. Filled with danger, art history, and daring escapes, this is a wildly ingenious murder-mystery ride through the origins of modern art.

Nick Bertozzi is an award-winning cartoonist based in New York.

In 1907 Paris, when someone starts tearing the heads off avant-garde painters, Gertrude Stein and her brother, Leo, realize that they might be next on the killer's list. Enlisting the help of their closest friends and colleagues, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Erik Satie, Alice B. Toklas, and Guillaume Apollinaire, they set out to put a stop to the ghastly murders. Filled with danger, art history, and daring escapes, this is a wildly ingenious murder-mystery ride through the origins of modern art.

"In the Paris of 1907, a salon of later famous Modernists—including Gertrude Stein, Georges Braque, Erik Satie and their sawed-off, potty-mouthed, frequently naked, hilariously arrogant acquaintance Pablo Picasso—discover a stash of secret blue absinthe that allows its drinkers to travel inside paintings, which may hold the key to the demonic creature who's been dismembering avant-gardists. The setting is fertile territory for speculative historical in-jokes, bawdy and action-packed set pieces—especially artistic experimentation in the tradition of its protagonists—Bertozzi plays it to the hilt . . ."—Publishers Weekly

"A wild mixture of art history and mystery . . . His depiction of artists—Pablo Picasso, Braque, Stein, Satie, and Appollinaire . . . is strange, humorous, and thrilling."—Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir 
 
"Full of ideas, gorgeous art, and deftly pace storytelling."—James Sturm, author of The Golem's Mighty Swing
 
"A sly, sexy slant on Modernism and the Modernists who made it so."—Paul Pope, author of Batman: Year 100
 
"Ambitious and fun. Bertozzi's artwork is gorgeous."—Chester Brown, author of Louis Riel
 
"Whether this story serves as an introduction to this famous circle of friends or as an appendix to your knowledge of them, it is fun, very smooth, charming and goes down as easy as absinthe."—Gary Panter, author of Jimbo in Purgatory

 

"Bertozzi's long-awaited graphic novel has a brilliant, daffy premise executed with wit and flair. In the Paris of 1907, a salon of later famous Modernists—including Gertrude Stein, Georges Braque, Erik Satie and their sawed-off, potty-mouthed, frequently naked, hilariously arrogant acquaintance Pablo Picasso—discover a stash of secret blue absinthe that allows its drinkers to travel inside paintings, which may hold the key to the demonic creature who's been dismembering avant-gardists. The setting is fertile territory for speculative historical in-jokes, bawdy and action-packed set pieces—especially artistic experimentation in the tradition of its protagonists—Bertozzi plays it to the hilt. His artwork is consistently vigorous, featuring rough, lusty brush strokes, an engaging duotone color scheme that changes from scene to scene, and hilarious mock French sound effects (someone being kicked is rendered 'QUIQUE'). But there's also a clever subtext to the book, about the historical moment at which a small group of associates reinvented art, music and literature by thinking intensely about how to represent space and time. Bertozzi dramatizes the origins of Cubism and its links to Gauguin's work, and even suggests how Picasso might have been influenced by comic strips, thus demonstrating the Stein salon's absolute devotion to advancing their art more strikingly than a 'real' history could."—Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312354851
• ISBN-13: 978-0312354855
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #484,320 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Long Live the Belle Epoque, April 20, 2007

By	Samuel Wells "'Pataphysician, Absintheur" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Salon is a murder-mystery that portrays the most influential painters and artists of the belle epoque, including Leo and Gertrude Stein, Apollinaire, Henri Matisse, George Braque and a hilariously ribald Picasso as they follow a mysterious blue female serial killer who rips the heads from the bodies of her unfortunate avant-garde victims.

Between bouts of whoring and flashes of artistic brilliance (Braque and Picasso create Cubism while staring out the window of a moving train in the middle of the narrative), the cabal of creatives chase the mysterious murderess through their own paintings with the aid of a magic blue absinthe discovered by Paul Gaugin, who has disappeared mysteriously and is presumed dead.

The story begins when the Steins invite George Braque to their salon and induce him to swallow a draught of the potion, which sends him spinning straight into a painting by Rousseau. Absinthe in this narrative is the tool of transport to magical realms, a place where every artistic creation exists as its own complete universe.

The art is undeniably comic-based but the use of color is intruiging and the story is very well crafted. It will make a fine addition to any collection of modern absinthe-related literature.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MOMA meets "Law and Order", July 14, 2007

By	dave-o (boston) - See all my reviews

Early Cubism was born out of the back-and-forth visual exploration of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso and "The Salon" re-imagines turn of the century Paris and the players that turned art on its head as a crime drama. Think MOMA meets Paul Pope's "Heavy Liquid" meets "Law & Order". Bertozzi's own artwork is beautiful and the reserved color palette matches the tone of the story. Bertozzi's take on Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" on the back cover is pretty brillant as well.

The murder mystery is fun, but actually less interesting than the author's imagined conversations between Picasso and Braque as well as Gertrude and Leo Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Erik Satie, Henri Matisse and Guillaume Apollinaire. Art history was one of my favorite subjects in college, particularly Cubism and "The Salon" captures the optimistic forward-looking energy of this movement, the catalyst for every major art movement to follow.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Graphic novel fails to live up to expectations, December 3, 2007

By	Christina Lockstein "http://christysbookblog.... (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The Salon by Nick Bertozzi has a fascinating pretext: The artists living in Paris in 1907: Picasso, Braque, Satie, plus Gertrude Stein, are being stalked and killed off by a strange vengeful being who has the ability to pass in and out of paintings. Stein's salon serves as homebase for these painters who come together to discuss art, their current works, and engage in hedonistic behavior. A strange blue absinthe gives them the ability to jump into paintings. The story is intriguing, and the artwork occasionally striking, but I was disappointed in this book. It got a lot of wonderful reviews leading me to believe it was transcendent and more than "just" a graphic novel. I loved the discussions between Braque and Picasso about how to paint all perspectives at once, giving birth to cubism. But so much of the book focused on the baser instincts of the artists. There were far too many panels of Picasso's penis for me. Bertozzi seemed to revel in his characters' hedonism, to the detriment of the story. I expected more from this book.