Hidden in the Shadow of the Master by Ruth Butler

Just read about Hidden in the Shadow of the Master: The Model-Wives of Cezanne, Monet, and Rodin by Ruth Butler from Patrica Cohen's September 3, 2008 New York Times book review titled "Author Gives Voice to Artists’ Silent Muses, Their Wives."

This is a book about the long forgotten wives of three brilliant nineteenth-century French artists whose works are known around the world -- Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, and Auguste Rodin.

Butler, a professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and the author of an award-winning Rodin biography (Rodin: The Shape of Genius), is clearly qualified to write such a book.

Through careful research, Butler creates detailed portraits of Hortense Fiquet, Camille Doncieux, and Rose Beuret the model-wives, respectively, of Cézanne, Monet, and Rodin. Who were these ordinary women? What role did they have in their husbands' achievements? Why have they been so ignored by historians? Butler answers these questions and more in this fascinating book.

Click here to download an excerpt in PDF format.

I've got to get a copy!