''Watteau in Venice'' () is a novel by French author

Philippe Sollers Philippe Sollers (; born Philippe Joyaux; 28 November 1936) is a French writer and critic. In 1960 he founded the ''avant garde'' literary journal '' Tel Quel'' (along with writer and art critic Marcelin Pleynet), which was published by Le S ...

published in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

by Editions Gallimard, later translated into English by Alberto Manguel, and then published in 1994 by

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan R ...

. The novel is a satirical story of art theft in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, including a romance with an American art student and frequent references to art. Ann Irvine of 'Library Journal' describes it as "a clever and sophisticated work that will appeal most to those who know European art and music." Alexander Theroux of ''Review of Contemporary Fiction'' is less complimentary: "...all of it comprising a kind of Art Crit 301 strung to a weak detective story – the novel hasn't a smidge of drama – gave Sollers to believe he had a good idea for a novel. Sadly, he did not."

References

1991 French novels Novels set in Venice Novels by Philippe Sollers {{1990s-novel-stub