Overview

"A brooch. A violin. A genealogical mystery. An unfinished portrait. Lady with a Brooch begins with a simple question: who was the arresting, enigmatic woman portrayed in Edvard Munch's famous 1903 lithograph? From there, by twists and turns, the book follows the dramatic, improbable adventures of Eva Mudocci--a violinist who won renown across Europe in the early decades of the 20th century performing on the priceless Golden Emiliani Stradivarius. A striking figure on and off the stage, Mudocci inspired portraits by celebrated artists--including not only Munch (famed painter of The Scream), but also Henri Matisse. Then, as two wars reshaped Europe's cultural landscape, Eva Mudocci was forgotten. Until now! In her foreword, Munch scholar and collector Sarah Epstein writes, ""Rima Shore, a dedicated scholar, traveled widely over six years years, following every lead in order to trace Eva and Bella's lives, careers, families, and friends, as well as the relationship of these two women. The book is the fruit of dozens of interviews, in many countries, which revealed previously hidden stories, letters, documents, and news items."" New questions emerged as the research progressed. How did the violinist--born Evangeline Hope Muddock and known in her youth by the stage name Miss Rose Lynton--transform into the enigmatic Madame Eva Mudocci? How did a middle-class teen from Brixton--raised by a single mother--come to play on a world famous Stradivarius? What happened to the violin? How did the family gain and then lose a small fortune? Lady with a Brooch solves all of these mysteries. Perhaps most compelling is this question: Who was the father of the twins born in 1908 to Mudocci--who never married? Mudocci took this secret to her grave. In 2012, her granddaughter stunned viewers of a televized interview when she announced that she had reason to believe her grandfather might be Edvard Munch. Early in 2013, author Rima Shore tracked down Mudocci's granddaughter to learn more. Over time, she solved this mystery as well, and in the process filled in the outlines of Mudocci's fascinating life and career--sketchy until now. The book offers insight into Mudocci's devoted relationship with Bella Edwards and explores the challenges faced by women musicians in a time and place uniquely hostile to their success. Eva Mudocci's portrait becomes a launchpad for exploring the artistic and cultural milieus in which she and Bella lived and worked. Moving from Victorian England through Belle Epoque France and pre-war Germany and Scandinavia to the chaos of two world wars and their aftermath, the book explores the workings of family secrets and reflects the power of love and friendship in a turbulent world. The final chapter answers one last question: Who was the ""unknown artist"" who created an unfinished oil painting of Mudocci that has hung for years in a Minnesota dining room? Why was it never completed? Could it be Edvard Munch? If so, how could a painting by one of the world's most celebrated artists remain unacknowledged for so long? Here is a case where headlines have been ripped from the book! Lady with a Brooch is indeed both a biography and a detective story. Some 40 photographs as well as 10 color art reproductions and 10 b&w reproductions accompany the narrative, and help bring to life the fascinating story of The Lady with a Brooch."

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9781733560207

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Reviews

Praise for Lady with a Brooch: Lady with a Brooch is a biography and a detective story--with a very satisfying ending. As a Munch scholar, there is so much here that I did not know! I really appreciated the part of the book that focuses on Eva Mudocci's life: her family background, her years as a child prodigy, her education and her musical career with Bella Edwards--all of this is really fascinating, with colorful descriptions of the milieu and the status of woman violinists. And when Munch enters the scene, it becomes even more interesting. Rima Shore has done a thorough job puzzling the bits and pieces of information together into a credible picture, and tells Mudocci's story in language that is very fluent and readable. --Magne Bruteig, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, Munch Museum, Oslo, and author of Munch: Drawings (Marot) It's been a long time since I was as sorry to come to the end of a book as I was with Rima Shore's utterly captivating biography. Beautifully crafted, witty, and even suspenseful, it is both deeply researched and subtly, intriguingly personal. A social history, it is also a moving-- and sometimes troubling--portrayal of artists in extremis, a study of women musicians negotiating what Shore describes as the uneven terrain between nonconformity and respectability. Set variously in Paris, London, Berlin, Dresden, Oslo and Copenhagen, this work contains enough intense drama to fuel an opera or a movie. Shore's readers are in for a big treat. --Stephen R. Lehmann, co-author of Rudolph Serkin: A Life (Oxford University Press) A fascinating biography, elegantly told. Eva Mudocci was not only a highly appreciated violinist and owner of an important violin, but also the subject of celebrated portraits by Edvard Munch and Henri Matisse. Mudocci and pianist Bella Edwards were at the crossroads of early twentieth-century music and art. Their story offers new slants on such leading lights as Henri Matisse, Edvard Grieg, Malvina Hoffman, and Lady Maud Warrender, and on the lesbian communities of Belle E poque Paris and mid-century England. --Nelly Furman, Professor Emerita, Cornell University, and author of George Bizet's Carmen (forthcoming, Oxford University Press)

Author Information

Rima Shore, a writer based in New York City, has published in the areas of literature, education, and women's studies, and is the co-author of the Dictionary of Contemporary Biography (Penguin). Until 2015, Rima was the Adelaide Weismann Chair of Educational Leadership at Bank Street College of Education in NYC. Also a student of the violin, she has studied for many years with Eva León.

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