Byatt, A. S. (Antonia Susan) : Art Work

Literature Annotations

Genre	Short Story (61 pp.)
Keywords	Communication, Ekphrasis, Family Relationships
Summary	The Matisse art work which forms the center for this story is the painting, "Le Silence Habité des Maisons," which shows a parent and child with featureless faces sitting at a table while looking together at a book. This painting is described as the reader is introduced to a family of artists and their unusual housekeeper, Mrs. Brown. The mother is the design editor of a magazine, A Woman’s Place, and the father is a rigid, relatively unsuccessful painter. There are two children in the family. Mrs. Brown provides the cement to keep the family together and learns from them ways to develop her own unusual kind of art. Interpersonal relationships are fragile and personal needs are great. There is a surprise ending.
Commentary	The impact of the story lies mainly in the skillful way the silence of the house, as suggested by the Matisse painting, is shown to be responsible for the outcome.
Source	The Matisse Stories
Publisher	Random House
Edition	1993
Place Published	New York
Miscellaneous
Annotated by	Sirridge, Marjorie S.
Date of Entry	12/10/96
Last Revised	01/23/13