The English Masterpiece
An Interview with Katherine Reay
This week Katherine Reay gives us the inside scoop on the The English Masterpiece. Set in 1970s London, the novel follows one woman’s race against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece.
"Art . . . London . . . Seventies Glam . . . Yesss, please. The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay has ALL the goodies—especially for historical fiction lovers and art aficionados . . . Buckle your seatbelt as all hell breaks loose.” -Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author of The Goddess of Warsaw
I loved being immersed in the London art scene of the 1970s for this novel. What drew you to exploring this for your next project?
The English Masterpiece started with the villain — then I needed a “high stakes” time period in which to set the crime. I was reading an article about a famous contemporary art forger and felt the story unfold within my imagination, but I knew it wasn’t a “contemporary” story. I wanted that time before social media and even before art burst upon the world as an investment vehicle in the 1980s, and Picasso’s death provided the perfect backdrop. He was not only the world’s most famous artist — his Tate Gallery 1960 exhibition is considered the world’s first “blockbuster” art show — but, upon his death, every museum was scrambling to honor him. Picasso is also the world’s most forged artist — I guess when you canvas all those movements, forgers have a lot to work with — and that, of course, worked perfectly for my purposes as well.
I was fascinated reading about the intricacies of passing off an art forgery at the time. Were the forgers and their methods based on any real people?
Yes, I was inspired by real forgers for the story and the methods I employed within The English Masterpiece closely resemble what I read about them — how they worked, how they thought about themselves and about their art. I’m withholding the names of my direct inspiration so I don’t give anything away — so, readers, be sure not to read the Author’s Note before you finish the novel! But, really, it wasn’t just this forger. I found so many forgers that, in the end, played a role in my fictitious villain because it wasn’t always about the art, at least not only the art. For example, I read an article about Han van Meegeren — one of history’s most famous forgers — who focused primarily upon Vermeer, and this article stated that his “story” was more convincing than his art — the psychological game he played with the buyer as they considered their purchases. In fact, the article even went so far as to state that side-by-side it was a wonder anyone ever thought any of Van Meegeren’s works could be mistaken for a Vermeer. I found that fascinating and gave a little of that cat-and-mouse, gamesmanship, quality to the crimes in the story.
Did you do a research trip to London for The English Masterpiece and if so, what were some of the most memorable moments?
I think I keep setting novels in London so I can keep visiting. I lived there for a couple years in the early 2000s so I know it well, but each trip reveals something new and I always love going back. For The English Masterpiece, I raced all around Tate Britain, as it was the Tate Gallery in 1973 and houses this story. I spent time in its archives and researched past exhibitions and the expansions the gallery underwent over the years. I also walked the path Lily would have walked from the Underground’s new Pimlico station to the Gallery and traced her path to St. Martin’s School of art, now Foyle’s Bookstore. That was a delightful surprise and I purchased a few books.
But the most dynamic part of my research was an interview with the chairman of an insurance company that is part of the Lloyd’s syndicate. I toured the Lloyd’s offices, learned about its beginnings in the 17th century, and it was that discussion and insights gleaned into the insurance classification of art, the movement of art, and its evolving nature as an investment from the 1970s into the 1980s, that really framed the story.
You described your early books such as Dear Mr. Knightley as a love letter to literature. Is there a theme that you keep coming back to in your more recent historical novels?
Such a good question. I supposed you could call my historical fiction — my spy novels and this one — love letters to history. If I can use a fact over a fiction within these stories I do. They are full of the real events of our pasts — and our pasts inform our presents and our futures. What’s even more fun is that we often misunderstand what happened — as oftentimes what objectively happened, is not what, subjectively, we see or understand, both on a personal scale and on a larger collective one. Wrestling with the past, understanding it, laying it down, forgiving it — whatever must be done — is oftentimes the only way to move forward. I find this to be an inherent part of our human nature and endlessly fascinating. So, while there are different themes I gravitate towards within each of my historical fiction works, this — by the very nature of the genre — seems to be a common one.
Can you tell us about “The 10 Minute Book Talk" and a favorite book you've read for that recently?
That is such a fun group! About five years ago, authors Marie Bostwick, Rachel Linden, and I decided to reach out to author friends and conduct quick and easy ten minute interviews on books, new releases, the reading life, etc. We drop a new “short and sweet” interview each Wednesday on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, and it has turned out to be an amazing thing. It’s a wonderful way to stay in touch with and offer support for friends, meet new author friends, and learn about upcoming books. When you ask about a favorite book, I believe I’ll give a shoutout to Elise Hooper and The Library of Lost Dollhouses. It was original, fresh, compelling, and a wonderful read. And without this idea we came up with all those years ago, I might not have known about it!
About the Author: Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of twelve novels and one non-fiction work. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Northwestern University, her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Redbook, USA TODAY, The Daily Beast, Criminal Element, and many more. She holds a master’s in marketing from Northwestern University as well. Katherine is also a co-founder and host of the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook and The 10 Minute Book Talk on Instagram. She is a mother of three and lives in Montana with her husband and their dogs.