When museum guide Elisabeth Bernard is entrusted with a mysterious painting, she leaps at the chance to research it. But passionate Lizzy’s quest for the truth soon leads her into danger as she crosses Europe on a route once travelled by her favourite artist.
Meanwhile, back in 1880s Scheveningen, aspiring painter Vincent van Gogh is searching for inspiration, companionship and his own distinctive style. As Lizzy’s plight escalates, so Vincent’s anguish intensifies, with famously tragic consequences.
An art-heist adventure told through the eyes of an art historian, Following Van Gogh is a parallel journey of self-discovery; a tale of passion, and what we are prepared to risk in pursuit of it.
Blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction, the narrative features evocative biographical passages which frame the fast-paced modern-day narrative, painting a vivid portrait of one of the world’s best-loved artists. The book is also full of insights into Van Gogh’s process as a painter, from his resourceful habit of using both sides of a canvas to his frequent feat of completing pictures in a single sitting — a custom he honed in Provence, where the mistral winds rapidly change the light and colour of the landscape.
Whether recreating the remote beauty of Glanum archaeological park or an increasingly industrialised Paris on the cusp of art revolution, Tea’s talent as a travel writer shines through the narrative, sparking curiosity for the places and paintings we encounter along the way, and fostering a rich understanding of their context.
Tea Gudek Šnajdar is an art historian, travel writer and editor of the Culture Tourist blog.
She also works as a guest guide at the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where the idea for her novel first took shape: “Exploring Van Gogh’s artwork in detail always made me wonder how much the locations in which he lived and worked influenced the themes, colours and brushstrokes in his paintings,” Tea explains.
“In 2019, I embarked on my dream trip: a fortnight’s exploration of locations linked to Vincent van Gogh in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. That trip was so inspiring, it sparked the idea of writing a novel.”