Books like The muralist by Barbara A. Shapiro

Alizée Benoit, a young American painter working for the Works Progress Administration, disappears from New York City in 1940. Her vanished frame of life is unknown to her Jewish family in occupied France, her patron Eleanor Roosevelt, and her circle of WPA artists such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. Seventy years later, her great‑niece, art dealer Danielle Abrams, discovers mysterious paintings concealed behind works by those now‑famous Abstract Expressionist artists while working at Christie's. The novel traces the lives of both historical and fictional characters as the story moves between past and present, exposing the complex politics of pre‑war America and the plight of European refugees denied entry to the United States. The narrative captures the inner workings of New York’s art scene and the beginnings of Abstract Expressionism, raising questions about the power of art against historical forces.

First publish date: 2015