Color Plates

The artwork of Cassatt, Manet, Degas, and Toulouse-Lautrec make up four rooms of a fictional museum that house a series of brief stories (plates) imagined by Golaski. Over the course of 66 plates, he reveals the subtle intersections between appreciation and invention. Introductions to each plate describing specific works or art or processes allow him to establish an inspiration point, and poetic leaps of logic or obvious anachronisms (like television, airplanes, and Elizabeth Taylor) deepen the effort beyond mere homage. He crafts sensual moments featuring landscapes and settings both ambiguous and known, enlivening 19th century figures like Manet's model, Victorine, and Monet's wife. What could have been a charming personal project blooms into rich character studies; the best reveal cosmopolitan lovers defined by a timeless, yearning quality. The author's statement, "Even a small museum can be rich and engrossing. The way a Fabergé egg can take days to examine and just when you think you've seen the whole of it, you locate hinge and latch," also applies to this work. Art lovers and fans of flash-fiction will especially relish these miniatures. (July)