Today’s post is for anyone who loves a good art mystery — let me tell you about a novel that truly stayed with me.
The novel is Rakuen no Canvas (“Paradise’s Canvas”) by Japanese author Maha Harada.
Maha Harada studied art at Waseda University. After working on the founding team of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and spending time at MoMA in New York, she became a freelance curator.
In 2005, she made her literary debut with Kafū o Machiwabite (Waiting for Good News), which won the Japan Love Story Grand Prize.
She is best known for her art-themed novels, including Rakuen no Canvas (Paradise’s Canvas) and Utsukushiki Orokamono-tachi no Taburō (Tablo of the Beautiful Fools).
It tells the story of Orie Hayakawa, a former art historian who now works as a museum attendant at the Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki, Japan. She unexpectedly gets involved in a special exhibition and a long-buried controversy from 20 years earlier — a past she shares with Tim Brown, now the chief curator at MoMA in New York.
The story takes us across the globe — from the Ohara Museum to MoMA in New York, and then to the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland. As the story unfolds, we learn that Orie and Tim were once young art critics who debated the authenticity of a mysterious painting believed to be by Henri Rousseau — a work also deeply connected to Picasso.
What I found fascinating is that the novel blends real museums, real artists, and fictional events. If you’re captivated by the Paris art scene of the early 20th century — especially artists like Henri Rousseau, Pablo Picasso, and poet Guillaume Apollinaire — this story will speak to you.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves art, museums, or simply a beautifully crafted story.