Portrait in Red: A Paris Obsession
By
The quest to uncover the history of a mysterious painting, and a joyous exploration of art in the twentieth century and beyond.
While wandering the streets of Paris in 2015, L. John Harris finds an abandoned, unfinished, and strangely compelling painting. The subject: a girl wearing a bright-red head covering, fixing her viewer with a foreboding gaze. The painting bears no signature, only the date: January 12, 1935. Harris, a journalist and illustrator, embarks on a multi-year quest to uncover the story behind this painting. His sleuthing has given birth to Portrait in Red, a wide-ranging exploration of art and its enduring mysteries. With wit and a contagious enthusiasm, Harris traces unexpected connections between Paris on the eve of World War II, his bohemian life in the San Francisco Bay Area, the aura of original paintings, the magic of found objects, and the aesthetics of a perfect croque monsieur. Portrait in Red will delight lovers of Edmund de Waal’s The Hare with Amber Eyes or Michael Finkel’s The Art Thief. By turns heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny, it is an existential detective story, set among world tragedies, art-historical epiphanies, and comic hijinks.
Reviews
"At once a detective story, a Parisian culinary travel memoir, and a chain of ruminations on serendipity and the nature and power of art, especially anonymous art." Kirkus Reviews
"Portrait in Red is about how a stranger’s trash became an inquisitive writer’s treasure—a free-wheeling, fascinating dissertation on a found object with infinite worth." Foreword Reviews
"A gem of a book—a journey of discovery that reveals much about art's power to seduce us, and even more about the author's passion for it." Terrance Gelenter, host of Your American Friend in Paris
"Portrait in Red is a rich global tapestry that is inviting, inventive, and lively." W. Scott Haine, author of The History of France
"An amusing and authentic story of a beautiful and mysterious painting." erge Sorokko, Serge Sorokko Gallery, San Francisco
"In Portrait in Red, L. John Harris takes on the role of a Paris flâneur who comments on all he sees, hears, feels, and tastes. Harris's expert eye and palette tease out the nuances of life on the streets of the French capital." Zack Rogow, coauthor of Colette Uncensored
"Local color, endearing ruminations, and Harris's obsessive love for the City of Light shine through in these pages. C’est formidable!” David Downie, author of A Taste of Paris
About the Author
