Frank Duveneck (1848–1919), who was once called “the new thunderbolt of the tumultuous art world,” was an internationally acclaimed American artist, a prize-winner who showed in Paris and whose work is no longer well known. Self-taught until he traveled to Europe, he lived near Cincinnati, as well as in Germany, Italy, and France. Duveneck also spent part of several summers in Gloucester, Mass., as part of the Cape Ann school of American Impressionism. His subjects included portraits, seascapes, landscapes, and a few religious icons and decorations.

This book has two main foci: first, the vagaries of the art market for this painter, etcher, muralist, and teacher (i.e. sometimes called “the founder of art education”) who knew most of the top artists and writers of this transformative era, and, second, a poignant love story. After a sedate, long courtship of Boston Brahmin Lizzie Boott, who was also a painter and once his student, they married, but she died unexpectedly in 1888 only two years later. The couple had one child, Frank, Jr. Apparently, Duveneck never fully recovered from his wife’s death.

The book includes critiques of Duveneck’s work and short biographies of people who influenced him and whom he influenced. There is also a list of where one might see Duveneck’s work. A long book, The Greatest Brush is written in a somewhat academic style. The author’s scholarship is impressive and the sources exhaustive. However, photos and letters help to enliven the text.

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