Susan Joyce Vreeland (January 20, 1946 – August 23, 2017) was an

American author American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

. Several of her books deal with the relationship between

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

. ''The Passion of Artemisia'' is a fictionalised investigation of some aspects of the life of

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi (, ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing profess ...

, while ''The Girl in Hyacinth Blue'' centres round an imaginary

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...

. ''The Forest Lover'' is a fictionalized account of the life of the Canadian painter

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

Early life

Vreeland was born in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

to William Alex Vreeland and Esther Alberta, ''née'' Jancovius. Her mother was from an artistic family and had studied at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. The family moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1948. Vreeland took a BA in English and

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

in 1969, an MA in education in 1972, and an MA in English in 1978.

Works

The works of Susan Vreeland include: * ''What Love Sees: a

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...

''. New York: PaperJacks, 1988. . * ''What English Teachers Want: A Survival Guide''. Unionville, NY: Royal Fireworks Press, 1995. . * ''Girl in Hyacinth Blue''. Denver: MacMurray & Beck, 1999. . * ''The Passion of Artemisia''. New York: Viking, 2002. . * ''The Forest Lover''. New York: Viking, 2004. . * ''Life Studies''. New York: Viking, 2005. . * ''Luncheon of the Boating Party''. New York: Viking, 2007. . * ''Clara and Mr. Tiffany''. New York: Random House, 2011. . * ''Lisette's List''. New York: Random House, 2014. .

References

1946 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American fiction writers American women novelists San Diego State University alumni Writers from Racine, Wisconsin Writers from San Diego Novelists from Wisconsin {{US-novelist-1940s-stub