µ˙The Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonMuseum Book Club

Lisette’s List a novel by Susan Vreeland New York Times best-selling author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue

In 1937 Lisette Roux and her husband, André, move from Paris to a village in Provence to care for André’s grandfather Pascal. Lisette regrets having to give up her dream of becoming a gallery apprentice, but she soon discovers that the hilltop town is rich with unexpected pleasures, and that Pascal once worked as a frame maker, befriending Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne and trading his frames for paintings. Pascal begins to tutor Lisette in both art and life, and, inspired by his advice, Lisette begins a list of vows to herself (#4. Learn what makes a painting great). When war breaks out, André goes off to the front, but not before hiding Pascal’s paintings to keep them from the Nazis’ reach. With the fall of Paris, Lisette sets out to locate the paintings. Her search takes her through the stunning French countryside, where she will learn to forgive the past, to live robustly, and to love again.

How to Use This Discussion Guide

All art—whether literary or visual—arises from the context of its time. Creating bridges between the literary and visual arts is what makes the Museum Book Club unique.

This discussion guide features questions about broad themes—politics, history, censorship, and the power of memory—all addressed in Susan Vreeland’s Lisette’s List, as well as questions about works of art in the Museum’s collections and exhibitions.

Read the book, discuss some or all of the questions with your group, and then reserve a Museum Book Club tour online.

How to Book a Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Book Club Tour

For book clubs and other groups of six or more confirmed participants, tours related to Vreeland’s Lisette’s List are available on select days and times October 1 through December 31, 2016. Tours are led by Museum docents and feature excerpts from the book to drive discussion about works on view at the Museum. During this time, you will also be able to view exquisite works of art in two exhibitions, Emperors’ Treasures: Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei and Degas: A New Vision.

For more information, visit mfah.org/bookclub. Please e-mail bookclub@mfah.org with any questions.

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Ways of Seeing: Pissarro, Cézanne, Picasso, and Chagall

Due to his friendships with the artists Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne, Andre’s grandfather Pascal was able to acquire a number of their artworks, as well as a study of heads by Pablo Picasso. During her time in Roussillon, Lisette forges a friendship of her own with the artist Marc Chagall and his wife, Bella, after they had fled to the Provence area to escape persecution in Nazi-occupied Paris. In return for her friendship and kindness, Chagall gifts Lisette a painting of her own, The Window. In a discussion with her Parisian friend Maxime, Lisette makes an observation that Chagall does not quite fit in with the others, to which Maxime responds:

“ Yes, he does. At the end. The visible reality

expressed through the handling of light and

color of impressionism—Pissarro—moved into

the solid geometric shapes of Postimpres-

sionism—Cézanne—to the modernism of

distortion and Cubism—Picasso—and finally

to the postmodernism of the expression of

the invisible personal reality of dreams.

That’s Chagall.” (p. 353)

Pablo Picasso, Two Women in Front of a Window, 1927, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore N. Law, 64.17.

In this passage, Maxime notes a difference between visible and invisible reality. Reflect for a moment on the difference between those concepts. Do you think the trajectory of art that he outlines has been followed by artists working today? How would you describe the “reality” of contemporary art—visible, invisible, or perhaps something else altogether?

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has superb examples of work tracing the historic trajectories of such landmark artists as those in Pascal’s and Lisette’s collections. The following excerpts from Lisette’s List prompt questions about the experience of art.

“ After long thought, he said, ‘With Pissarro, I had looked for a story in his paintings. The girl with

the goat, where was she going? Why was she alone? But with Cézanne, there was no story in the

panorama or in the fruit. You see, the apples and oranges were important in themselves. I had to

learn to regard them as products of the painter’s way of seeing. I made myself refuse to imagine

which of the card players would win the game. The act of their playing was enough.’ ” (p. 77)

Camille Pissarro, The Goose Girl at Montfoucault (White Frost), 1876, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck, 98.295.

Paul Cézanne, Bottom of the Ravine, c. 1879, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck, 98.274.

When looking at an artwork, how important is it to separate our imagined narratives from what can actually be seen in the image? How can considering artworks from the perspective and eye of the artist help to facilitate a deeper understanding of the artwork?

“ Beyond Marc’s innocent, childlike paintings

of village life, here was what his art could

do—mirror the blast of barbarity now

happening in Europe. A painting such

as this, seen by enough people, could

get them to feel my outrage. It could get

people to act, to resist, to march willingly

to war, as André had done. With this single

painting, I realized that art wasn’t just about

love and beauty. It could also be a strong

political force.” (p. 156)

Marc Chagall, The Woman and the Roses, 1929, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck, 98.275.

Have you seen paintings or artworks that have made you feel the kind of outrage that Lisette describes experiencing with Chagall’s work? Are there particular components or characteristics of those works that we could identify as particularly effective political tools (for instance, specific colors, symbols, subjects, sizes, and the location of the work)?

“ His vision obeys higher laws. That’s his

spirituality. Most good art has some spiritual

dimension . . . A great painting has to be

more than spiritual, certainly more than a

piece of religious art. Let’s see. It has to be

more than original, too, like Chagall’s work

is. More than a good likeness, more than a

beautiful subject painted in pleasing colors,

more than an intriguing composition, more

than an interesting application of paint. . . .

A great painting encourages us to feel some

connection with a truth.” (p. 226)

Yousuf Karsh, Marc Chagall, 1965, gelatin silver print, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Estrellita Karsh in honor of Dr. Malcolm Daniel and in memory of Yousuf Karsh, 2014.1030.3.

Would you concur with Maxime’s assessment as to what makes a great painting? What do you think he means when he says, “a great painting encourages us to feel some connection with a truth”?

The Chemistry of Color and Cooking

“ Cézanne’s conscience was so pure that he never depended upon a prior painting of an apple—

his or someone else’s. To him, each apple had a unique character.” (p. 259)

Susan Vreeland was able to tap into Cézanne’s understanding that fruits, like paintings and people, have their own characters and personalities. Like the processes of extracting colors from natural elements and mixing colors to create new shades, a similar experimentation process can be used in the creation of new recipes. To what degree can these creative processes can be considered science, and to what degree do they extend beyond the realm of scientific explanation?

When Lisette resolved to create her own versions of her beloved Parisian marzipans, she had to find ways to make natural dyes, trying them out on boiled white potatoes (p. 266–67). What did Lisette learn or gain through her endeavors to re-create these tokens of her former life? Could this venture be considered an art form, or is it perhaps something else entirely?

Later in the book, Bernard explains the process of mining ochre ore and creating pigments: “[T]he ochre ore, quarried or mined, had to be separated from sand. It was ninety percent sand and ten percent pigments, he said. Pulverized ore of each color was first flushed with water, which ran through large diameter pipes.” (p. 369–70)

There is also a certain procedure in the assembling and arranging of various forms and colors in a painting’s composition. In describing the fruit in Cézanne’s still life, Maxime notes: “He simplified shapes by seeing his subjects in geometric forms. Cones and spheres here.” (p. 260)

“A color comes into its own in response to

another color, just like soldiers do, like friends,

like lovers. Our proximity to each other brings

about our wholeness.” (p. 261)

Paul Gauguin, Still Life with Mangoes and a Hibiscus Flower, 1887, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase funded by the Audrey Jones Beck Accessions Endowment Fund, 2016.39.

In his observation of the behavior of colors, Maxime seems to be describing a phenomenon that begins to move away from the predictive outcomes of scientific procedure. Not only that, he extends the reactive qualities of color to human nature and to our relationships with one another. To what extent are human behaviors and responses like the components of a painting, or a recipe?

Land and Country: Effects of Geopolitics on Life and Art

The book begins with Lisette ruefully leaving her beloved Paris behind for the hills and quarries of Roussillon. As we follow her journey throughout the book, she seems to become more and more connected to the countryside. When Bernard asks her which place she likes better, Lisette responds, “Do you know Josephine Baker’s song ‘J’ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris’? Her country was America. She loved them both. My countryside is Provence. I could sing, ‘I have two loves too, my village and Paris.’ Don’t make me choose.” (p. 294)

Lisette describes herself as being “of two worlds.” She seems to straddle the line between two places both physically and metaphorically. The text describes her oscillation between Paris and Roussillon, but also between the expectations that accompany both places.

What were some of the expectations that could be associated with her two beloved homes? To what events or circumstances could we attribute the differences between the two?

Armand Guillaumin, View of the Seine, Paris, 1871, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck, 71.5.

“The BBC reported fierce fighting over the next week

as the Wehrmacht, with its panzers, made a rapid and

methodical push across France and reached La Manche,

what the British announcer called the English Channel,

pinning tens of thousands of the British Expeditionary

Force, together with French and Belgian soldiers, on

the beaches and harbor of Dunkerque. Meanwhile, two

more women whose sons or husbands or brothers were

in the army pushed east, into the café. By the end of

May, the Allied escape at Dunkerque was under way

and the allied women of Roussillon were occupying the

café, beauty marks on their cheekbones for solidarity,

right or left depending on their men at war.” (p. 104)

Pablo Picasso, Woman with a Large Hat, 1962, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, bequest of Caroline Wiess Law, 2004.51.

There is an interesting comparison being made in the passage above between the literal occupation of land, forcefully and violently taken, and the more personal and psychological occupations happening at the café, and in the minds of the town’s women. How is this notion reflected in the various ways we conceptualize personal identity? How does land and “where we come from” contribute to how we perceive ourselves? How does it affect the way Lisette sees herself?

Author Biography

Susan Vreeland is the internationally known author of art-related historical fiction. Her works include Lisette’s List, Clara and Mr. Tiffany, Luncheon of the Boating Party, Life Studies, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, The Forest Lover, and What Love Sees. Four of these books are New York Times best sellers, and four have been winners of the Theodor Geisel Award, the highest honor given by the San Diego Book Awards. Vreeland’s novels have been translated into twenty-six languages, and frequently have been featured in Book Sense Picks. She was a high school English teacher in San Diego for thirty years.

Photo credit: Stephen Raffy

Learning and Interpretation programs receive generous funding from the Sterling-Turner Foundation; ExxonMobil; MD Anderson Cancer Center; Occidental Petroleum; Leslie and Brad Bucher; Houston Junior Woman’s Club; Mr. and Mrs. Melbern G. Glasscock; The Windgate Charitable Foundation; the Samuel H. Kress Foundation; Mr. William J. Hill; and the Susan Vaughan Foundation.