Frick Masterpiece Inspires Anthology Of Short Stories Written By NYU Graduate Students, Amplifying Art History

Literature and visual art have always been in dialogue, with images and words inspiring each other across centuries, genres, styles, geographies, and mediums. While art and literature have simultaneously represented similar movements throughout history, creators of visuals and texts can interact in myriad ways, from nuanced reference to explicit homage.

A young woman in a pale blue gown leans back on a mirrored bedroom dressing table, her index finger brushing beneath her chin to exude familiarity and casual confidence. Her gaze is both directed at the viewer and obscured in thought. A bold red bow and hairpiece securing her coif is reflected in the mirror. The intimate scene offers a glimpse into her social status and invites many avenues for creative contemplation and fodder for an array of short stories.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ Comtesse d’Haussonville (circa 1845), a jewel of The Frick Collection and the subject of a 1985 exhibition, Ingres and the Comtesse d’Haussonville, has inspired a new book of short stories to be published next month by Rizzoli Electa in association with the Frick. Under the guidance of best­-selling author and New York University professor Darin Strauss as faculty advisor, graduate students in NYU’s Creative Writing Program present 14 perspectives in Regarding Ingres:·Fourteen Short Stories.

This project underscores the need to continually contextualize Old Master paintings, making art history accessible, intriguing, and meaningful to future generations. These paintings tell critical stories of the past that help guide us through the cultural landscape, and new interpretations and explorations are vital to their legacies. Art history is history. It tells stories of people, rich and poor, famous and unknown beyond their depiction in an artwork, revealing what matters about humanity. This is how we learn about customs, traditions, preferences, behaviors, and attitudes of people experiencing everyday life, while eschewing the biased narratives of warmongers and so-called great men.

“We are so proud to welcome fresh perspectives on works in our collection, and this collaboration with emerging fiction writers from NYU has been a deeply rewarding project,” said Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator of the Frick. “This collection of stories is sure to bring renewed attention to a particularly beloved work in our holdings.”

The painting and the stories borrow from the illustrious life of Louise, Princesse de Broglie, Comtesse d’Haussonville, who came of age in an aristocratic and scholarly family. She was the daughter, sister, spouse, and mother of four members of the French Academy. The subject herself was an author who wrote multiple biographies, including ones of the inimitable, brazen major English Romantic poet, Lord Byron, and Irish Republican, orator, and rebel leader, Robert Emmet. She was married to Joseph de Cleron, a diplomat, historian, and writer. Her maternal grandmother, best known as Madame de Staël, was a politically engaged woman of letters, who survived the French Revolution and was exiled multiple times by Napoleon.

“It’s hard to be up against a masterpiece. But I do think, like the painting itself, these stories mix realism and abstraction in ways that both thrill and provoke. And I hope, like me, your reaction—no matter what it was to start—is more potent than a sip of Earl Grey. Because this is stronger stuff,” Strauss writes in the introduction.

Each student carefully examined the portrait, which portrays Ingres returning home from a night at the opera. Her opera glasses, shawl, visiting cards, gold-and-turquoise jewelry, and other fancy objects arranged to convey her stature, and invite play with literary genres and time periods.

The stories are written by Mathis Clement, Najee Fareed, Nina Ferraz, Omer Friedlander, Amir Hall, Anushka Joshi, Christopher Linn ix, Madeline McFarland, Jonathan Perry, Isabelle Philippe, Eric Rubeo, Erin Townsend, Devon Walker-Figueroa, and Alanna Weissman.

Ingres devoted some three years to the portrait, beginning in 1842 and working from a wide range of preparatory drawings, including full-scale studies of her raised left arm, her head, and its reflection, to accurately portray a complicated woman with a potent personality. He imbued her likeness with emotion and passion that makes her relatable to contemporary audiences.

According to a letter written by the artist, the finished work “aroused a storm of approval among her family and friends,” and it continues to enthrall viewers.

Buy the 192-page hardcover anthology, showcasing 16 color illustrations, for $39.95.