Set in New York City in alternating time periods—the 1950s and the early 2000s—Pollock's Last Lover is the engrossing tale of two women whose lives collide as they contend with the art and legacy of the brilliant, tragic painter Jackson Pollock. In 2006, Sotheby's sells a painting by Jackson Pollock for $140 million - the highest sum ever paid for a work of art. Two weeks later, an older woman named Ruth Kligman, in high heels and a dusty fascinator, contacts a smaller, less prominent auction house to announce that she was Pollock's lover, and that he gave her his last painting. She declares that it was selfish to keep it in her apartment for fifty years, and that people should see this masterpiece in galleries and museums the world over. The bidding will start at $50 million. Gwen, an up-and-coming associate at the firm, is assigned the task of verifying the painting's authenticity. For Gwen, an ambitious woman in a field often dominated by men, it is her biggest project yet. And the company must have absolute certainty. Yet each step of the investigation raises larger questions—about Ruth's cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock's sudden and violent death. What follows, in alternating chapters and time periods, is a multigenerational portrait of women's ambition set against the life and work of Jackson Pollock. From smoky Greenwich Village dive bars to glitzy art auctions, from the empty studio of a man once known for his artistic stamina to the fine museums where his works hang, Ruth's controversial painting provides a window into two eras—and the ongoing struggle of women to develop power and freedom on their own terms.
"Narrator Cassandra Campbell captures the personalities of two women whose lives are both affected by the erratic, alcoholic artist Jackson Pollock. The novel is based on the real-life Ruth Kligman who, in the 1950s, survived the tragic car crash that killed Pollock and another passenger. Campbell projects Ruth's youthfully irrational passion for the married genius artist. In 2006, Gwen, an ambitious gallery assistant, lands the job of selling what the aging, eccentric Ruth insists is Pollock's last painting. With the future of her career depending on her success with this deal, Gwen must determine if the painting is genuine and defend her credibility in the men's world of New York art galleries.
Listeners are treated to a woman's perspective of the art world."
