***
Swindon offers to escort us to the mousehole, the only entrance still in use this late at night, and make sure the guard lets us out without any problems.
‘Everyone is on edge now,’ he says, running a hand across his still-immaculate coif.
We walk slowly through the exhibition gallery. All the guests have gone and only a few waitstaff remain, picking up discarded wine glasses and fallen serviettes. A waiter passes us with a full tray of champagne flutes and seconds later there’s an almighty crash. We spin around. He’s dropped the entire load, and now the floor in front of Man Proposes glitters with broken glass, like an extension of the ice. The three of us look at each other, then turn away and keep walking.
At the mousehole, Swindon shakes John’s hand and then turns to me.
‘Thank you, Alex. I’ve got a lot to deal with here. Obviously I want to keep the publicity to a minimum, but I doubt that will be possible once they turn the spotlight on Meredith’s death.’
‘And if Cottrell’s sold other fakes, the buyers may come forward,’ I say.
Swindon winces. ‘Hopefully they’ll be too embarrassed at being taken in to want to do that.’ We look at one another and he sighs. ‘Yes, most likely too much to hope for. You’re probably going to be caught up in it too, I’m afraid.’
I give him a weak smile. ‘Can’t be helped and really, business has been so slow I could use a bit of publicity, particularly if it centres on my ability as a dealer to spot fakes.’ I don’t feel nearly as happy or confident about it as I sound.
When Swindon sticks out his hand for me to shake, I oblige.
‘What I was trying to say was, I have a lot to deal with, but I wanted you to know, Alex, that the job Barbara Cottrell offered you is no longer available.’
I’d thought this might happen, but it still feels like a kick in the guts. I drop his hand and turn away.
‘It’s not available, but I have a very recently vacated position as Head of International Art and I’d like to offer it to you.’
I slowly turn back to look at his face. ‘Are you serious?’
He nods. ‘Let me know in the next few weeks, would you?’ Then Robert Swindon turns and starts back into his museum, hands in pockets.
‘Robert,’ I call after him and he stops. ‘I assume you’ll end up having to call a press conference about all of this.’
He partly turns, and briefly closes his eyes. ‘Unfortunately, and I’m not looking forward to it.’
‘Not surprised.’ I tuck my arm through John’s and move toward the door where a guard waits to let us out. ‘When you hold the press conference,’ I raise my voice a bit so Swindon can still hear me, ‘maybe not in front of Man Proposes.’
The door shuts behind us and John and I step out into a cool city, washed clean by the storm.
Author’s Notes
The Melbourne International Museum of Art does not exist. The building described here takes many of its features from Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria, and MIMA’s permanent collection is also based on that of the NGV. However, the internal layout, staff and events described are entirely fictional and any resemblance to actual people or events, past or present, is entirely coincidental.
For fans of CSI, the program premiered in the USA in October 2000, but wasn’t screened on Australian television until April 2001.
The paintings used or ‘borrowed’ for the exhibition, Masterpieces of Victorian Britain, can be found in the following collections:
Mariana, John Everett Millais, Tate Gallery, London, UK
Man Proposes, God Disposes, Sir Edwin Landseer, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Beata Beatrix, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Tate Gallery, London, UK
The Earl and Countess of Sefton and daughter, with horses and dogs, Sir Edwin Landseer, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
The vintage festival, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
The Last of England, Ford Madox Brown, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK
Helen of Troy, Frederick Sandys, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Henry Edward Manning, George Frederic Watts, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
The Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets, Frederic Lord Leighton, Yale Centre for British Art, Connecticut, USA
No paintings were harmed in the creation of this story.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Angela Meyer for all your suggestions, support and ever-so-gentle critiquing; I think Alex and John would like to hang out with you. Thank you also to my agent Sally Bird, and to all the team at Echo Publishing who worked so hard to bring this book to life. And to all my friends who have smiled and nodded when I’ve missed another social occasion, sorry about that – I owe you.
Questions for Reading Groups
1.Alex Clayton often sees the world in terms of art and paintings she knows. Is this a good thing?
2.Does it increase her understanding or distance her from reality?
3.It is said that the painting, Man Proposes God Disposes, is cursed. Do you believe in magic and curses?
4.If someone offered to give you a masterpiece but told you it was cursed, would you happily hang it in your home?
5.When Alex and John are in the storage area of MIMA, Alex ad libs an arty discourse about a Brett Whiteley painting. Does art need to be explained?
6.Do you think artists and critics sometimes try to seem too superior and clever?
7.Alex and John have been close friends for years, but the relationship seems to be changing. Should they explore their feelings or would they be risking their friendship?
8.The forged Brett Whiteley painting would sell for a high price. What makes good art expensive?
9.If a forgery is so good it’s impossible to distinguish from the real thing, why is it not just as valuable?
10.John is so desperate to save his marriage that when Sue turns up at the exhibition opening, he abandons Alex. Did he make the right decision at the time?
11.When Alex is offered the job at MIMA, she must decide between security and what had once been her dream, or the risks associated with the independent path she’s carved for herself. What do you think she ultimately chooses and is it the right choice?
Katherine Kovacic is a former veterinarian turned art historian who works with a wide variety of museums, galleries and historic houses. She lives in Melbourne with a Borzoi and a Scottish Deerhound. The Portrait of Molly Dean was her debut novel and the first Alex Clayton art mystery.
Echo Publishing
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Copyright © Katherine Kovacic, 2019
All rights reserved. Echo thanks you for buying an authorised edition of this book. In doing so, you are supporting writers and enabling Echo to publish more books and foster new talent. Thank you for complying with copyright laws by not using any part of this book without our prior written permission, including reproducing, storing in a retrieval system, transmitting in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, or by photocopying, recording, scanning or distributing.
First published 2019
This ebook edition published 2019
Cover design by Nada Backovic
Page design, typesetting and ebook creation by Shaun Jury
Cover Images: Miguel Sobreira, David Cheshire / Arcangel
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia
ISBN: 9781760685775 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781760685911 (epub)
ISBN: 9781760685904 (mobi)
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Painting in the Shadows Page 24
