Rouge nu par Benjamin De Laforcade

Abstract

Reviewed by: Rouge nu par Benjamin De Laforcade Eilene Hoft-March De Laforcade, Benjamin. Rouge nu. Gallimard, 2022. ISBN 978-2-07-296112-0. Pp. 273. The setting is Berlin in the early 2000s when new political and social freedoms of a consolidated Germany nourish creativity and transform the city into a European capital of artistic, cultural innovation. In that spirit, renowned painter Andreas Mauser makes several bold moves: he renovates a dilapidated factory of East German vintage into an art studio and school and caps the structure with an enormous concrete cube to house his ultimate masterpiece. Throughout the novel, no one has access to the painting (shades of Balzac's "Chef d'oeuvre inconnu") except the faithful Hausmeister. As plans for a retrospective of Mauser's work take shape, the artist selects a young acolyte from among his students to be his studio assistant. Ezra Zimmerman, a seemingly unlikely candidate for this honor, is of modest origins, with little formal art training but an uncanny ability to reproduce Mauser's techniques and even whole artworks by the painter. This privileged understanding of the master's art gives Ezra growing insights into the complex dynamics of Mauser's art-making enterprise. Laforcade develops Ezra's character convincingly, making him slightly unusual in appearance and demeanor, gay, and unapologetically his own man. Ezra indulges in Berlin's urban, youth-oriented pleasures, mostly with his companions Judith and Luke, both infatuated with him. He also embarks on a caring relationship with a woman and her infant in a neighboring apartment, a relationship initiated by his emergency aid to her during childbirth. The author alternates these narrative threads in finely crafted and evenly paced chapters that build subtle suspense. In addition, Laforcade gives richly evocative descriptions such as the paired processes of seeing and painting or the human blossoming of baby Heiko. Above all, the arc of Laforcade's narrative traces an indicting portrait of the cult of the master. The "great man," Andreas Mauser, speaks very little but his will is known and executed without question by trusted minions. Fame gives him permission to withhold common courtesies much less respectful behaviors toward his closest collaborators. Greatness appears to exonerate his serial oppressions of others. Ezra, the ever observant, witnesses it all and must make a decision accordingly. Rouge nu is an impressive first novel that this reader hopes will have equally impressive successors. [End Page 227] Eilene Hoft-March Lawrence University (WI) Copyright © 2023 American Association of Teachers of French