Download a PDF Sample (1.4 MB)Considered by most to be the missing artistic link between Surrealism and Dada, only four art critics have ever interviewed the highly-acclaimed (and equally reclusive) artist, Jacques Debierue. In fact, not many more people than those four have ever been allowed to see the artist's work beyond his first reputation-making piece "No. One". Set in South Florida in the 70s, The Burnt Orange Heresy is the story of Jamers Figueras, a hyper-ambitious art critic given the rare chance to interview Debierue, and thus securing his entire career in a single stroke. The opportunity though, doesn't come without costs.

This fictional work has proven difficult to categorize, and the oft-used mystery or crime-fiction labels don't capture the numerous possible psychological and satirical readings of the book -- really a modern-day literary heir to Balzac's famous The Unknown Masterpiece.

Project Notes:
The Burnt Orange Heresy is out of print. First published in 1971, it would still be under copyright, presumably with the author's estate. If an interested team were to form, their first step would be to locate and contact the estate to determine copyright status and seek his involvement in the project.

Project Team Members:
None. This project was submitted by the Hol Editors and is open for anyone to take the lead on. Apply to work on this team.

Download a PDF Sample (800 KB)This is the Hour is a novel about Spanish artist Francisco Goya. Though generally framed as a biography of the artist, the key plot of the novel revolves around an imagined relationship between Goya and the Duchess of Alba, who the artist painted a number of times. This focus on their relationship has proved the cause of the book's sometime condemnation in art historical circles. For while outside the confines of the novel, the relationship between Goya and the Duchess has indeed been discussed, it is generally dismissed as a flight of fancy at best, or as base gossip at worst. In the hands of Feuchtwanger however, it is undoubtedly a compelling twist on the oft-told story of Goya's life.

Project Notes:
This is the Hour is out of print. First published in English in 1951, it was originally written in German and may have been previously published in that language. It would still be under copyright. If an interested team were to form, their first step would be to locate and contact the author's estate to determine copyright and translation status and to seek their involvement in the project.

Project Team Members:
None. This project was submitted by the Hol Editors and is open for anyone to take the lead on. Apply to work on this team.

Download a PDF sample (700 KB)
First published in France in 1867, Manette Salomon is considered one of the classics of the art-in-fiction genre, if not the classic. Yet as far as we can tell, it has never before been published in English. It came twenty years before Zola's well known work, The Masterpiece (L'Oeuvre) and in fact at the time, the de Goncourts felt Zola's story too closely followed their own.

Project Notes:
This work is believed to be in the public domain. It was written in French and rather than an author, the project team for this book will need to be centered around a strong translator.

The Project Team (Contact ):

• Project Manager: apply
• Translator: Michael Shreve
• Editor: apply
• Publicist: apply
• Designer: apply
• Bookstore Sponsor: apply

Download a PDF Sample (1.2 MB)First published in France in 1886, The Masterpiece is a novel about a Parisian artist during what would be later seen as the dawn of modernism, written by a man who was a friend and peer to many of the artists we most associate with that time.

I first heard of the books while reading "Artist's Models", a New Yorker essay by Rachel Cohen which describes Zola's friendship with Cézanne. Cézanne is the artist most associated with Claude Lantier, the main character in The Masterpiece, though notably, the first part of the book (including the posted PDF excerpt) focuses on Lantier's creation and exhibition of a work undeniably based on Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe.

Project Notes:
This work is in the public domain and so open to publication. Note however, that particular translations might still be under copyright. If an interested party were to form, they could freely reprint an older, public domain translation, or could develop and publish a new translation by adding a translator to their team.

Project Team Members:
None. This project was submitted by the Hol Editors and is open for anyone to take the lead on. Apply to work on this team.