An Object of Beauty: Chapter 53, I Wink to Thee!

For me, the masterpiece of An Object of Beauty is comprised of all the words contained in Chapter 53! Reminding me of a memorable holiday dinner get-together or a stimulating version of Table Talk, this restaurant-gathering depiction ranks in my top three of Best Book Chapters Ever. Before I got a copy of this book, I listened to an audio version, and Campbell Scott’s voice told this tale well. In fact, it was only in Chapter 53 that I thought that I specifically ‘heard’ author Steve Martin’s voice come through with distinct enunciation when the name of Hollywood actor ‘Stirling Quince’ was announced. I can imagine that Steve might have even winked upon saying those two words, which his main character of Lacey Yeager would have frowned upon.

Can you imagine what would have happened if, when flutterby posted the Ditalini Press 'Just Dialog' Challenge, she stipulated that we include fifteen character voices? This is why Chapter 53 is suitable for framing: it debates, from so many personal-perspectives, the merits of art, with Lacey’s journalist friend Daniel inserting just the right questions to keep the conversation lively. I am reminded of the great Michael Zinman who challenges us to collect – pick something, anything and just collect! (If you don’t like to collect ‘stuff’, try collecting memory images and hang them on a clothesline display in front of your Third Eye!) This group happens to collect art! As one might surmise, Mr. Martin is also quite the art collector, and in 2001 wrote a book about his collection, Kindly Lent Their Owner: the Private Collection of Steve Martin, which is listed on his website, www.stevemartin.com. A new copy can be had for a mere $400.00 through Amazon, a used copy from $95.00.

But I digress!

Lacey’s voice is surprisingly silent in Chapter 53. This particular art crowd at this particular time must not have suited her purposes or, rather, been able to further her purposes. Instead, at the end of the chapter Daniel spots her keeping cozy with a Russian playboy art collector, at a table for two. Described as ‘reckless’ in the book, I would add ‘ruthless’ to the description of Lacey and her most unscrupulous act is the one on which this book hinges. For as Lacey navigates the ins and outs and around and abouts of the art world, objects of beauty soon take on value-added dimensions, allowing her to deliberately up-style her life, but will she be truly liberated?

At first glance, what attracted me to this book were the art reproductions. Once reading, I loved the dappled light that played with similes throughout, and the rays that occasionally glinted off of rare golden chiasmus nuggets. When that happened, I might have even winked - in defiance of Lacey and in deference to the enlightened, word-smart geniusness of Stephen Glenn Martin!

Curiously, it is in Chapter 53, so full of art appreciation dialog, that we are let in on the secret of engaging in dialog with Art itself. So the next time an object of beauty gets your attention, whispering soft promises or all but shouting: Stop. Linger. Listen.

So What'd You Think of An object of Beauty....?

I’ve been twice to the International Basel Art Show which takes place every June in Switzerland and have witnessed dapper gentleman in houndstooth buying paintings by Hans Arp for $20,000 and overheard many an avant-guard nabob negotiate superior sums on their cell phones. I’d wondered who these people were, what kinds of lives they lived. In Steve Martin’s latest novel, An Object of Beauty I was given some insight into this world of art that fascinates.


The book’s main character is Lacey as described by a nerdy and likable narrator, a writer for ARTnews. She is an enviable femme fatale type: attractive, witty, appreciator of and surrounded by the finest of worldly things, driven by intense amition to succeed, ensnaring millionaire art dealers in her charms, moving free of self-doubt or timidity. I think Lacey’s complexities reveal Martin’s understanding of women in general.


When Lacey sells her Grandmother’s Maxfield Parrish painting in a dubious way in order to stay in New York and pursue her dream, readers see just how unscrupulous, almost immoral she is. Especially when said Parrish painting depicts her own grandmother as an enchanting youth, a dear testament to an ongoing familial link to art, artists, and to beauty. This ambitious move renders her shallow, vacuous, as the New York art scene seems after the terrorist attacts of September 11.


I found the book to be a fun and rollicking read while maintaining an intelligent tone. I think it would adapt well to film. It is also, most importantly, powerful in conveying art’s inherent value to humanity. This was aided by the twenty-two reproductions of various artworks found throughout and especially felt from one effectual scene in which Lacey hangs a painting by Milton Avery on her apartment wall. Readers witness the Avery catalyzing an almost spiritual transformation of her apartment, turning it from a student-like, juevenile space to a harmonious, exquisite, mature abode. She has a revelation at this moment, understanding why people collect art, value it, invest in it.


It would be hard not to come away unaffected by An Object of Beauty. It seems likely that readers of every kind will have a new or refreshed understanding of art, even be stirred to collect or investigate it further.


It’s impassioned author said shortly after buying a painting by William Michael Harnett, a 19th century still-life painting (from New York Times article November, 2010): “It’s absolutely great to live with. It’s better than television. There’s not a day I don’t look at or spend some amount of time with an artwork.”

My Thoughts on An Object of Beauty

I am not at all familiar with the world of art that extends beyond my children's drawings that hang on my refrigerator, so reading An Object of Beauty was a learning experience for me. Because I know very little about art and the culture surrounding it, at times I found myself wanting to skim through the descriptions of the works of art that are throughout the book, but I persevered and learned that while I may not understand what makes a person want to spend thousands of dollars on a piece of art I can respect that they do.

The main character's personality and story are what really kept me interested in this book. To me it seems the main character, Lacey Yeager, uses any means necessary to work her way up in the art world from a clerk in the basement of Sotheby's to eventually owning her own gallery. Her relationship's with people more often than not revolved around what a person can do for her and her career than her actually being a friend. I found the stories of her escapades much more interesting than the descriptions of the various work of art she comes across. I often found myself wanting to like her, but never really being able to.

I enjoyed reading An Object of Beauty because it made me look at another slice of the world. Although I will probably always be someone who takes a quick look at a painting and then moves on to the next, I will remember that while I take it for what it is, there is always a different way to see it. I learned that while it may just look like a painting of a field there is always more than what meets the eye. All you have to do is look.