Lady with a Brooch: Violinist Eva Mudocci-A Biography & a Detective Story, Paperback/Rima Shore

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Description A brooch. A violin. A genealogical mystery. An unfinished portrait. Lady with a Brooch begins with a simple question: who was the arresting, enigmatic woman portrayed in Edvard Munch's famous 1903 lithograph? From there, by twists and turns, the book follows the dramatic, improbable adventures of Eva Mudocci--a violinist who won renown across Europe in the early decades of the 20th century performing on the priceless Golden Emiliani Stradivarius. A striking figure on and off the stage, Mudocci inspired portraits by celebrated artists--including not only Munch (famed painter of The Scream), but also Henri Matisse. Then, as two wars reshaped Europe's cultural landscape, Eva Mudocci was forgotten. Until now In her foreword, Munch scholar and collector Sarah Epstein writes, "Rima Shore, a dedicated scholar, traveled widely over six years years, following every lead in order to trace Eva and Bella's lives, careers, families, and friends, as well as the relationship of these two women. The book is the fruit of dozens of interviews, in many countries, which revealed previously hidden stories, letters, documents, and news items."New questions emerged as the research progressed. How did the violinist--born Evangeline Hope Muddock and known in her youth by the stage name Miss Rose Lynton--transform into the enigmatic Madame Eva Mudocci? How did a middle-class teen from Brixton--raised by a single mother--come to play on a world famous Stradivarius? What happened to the violin? How did the family gain and then lose a small fortune? Lady with a Brooch solves all of these mysteries. Perhaps most compelling is this question: Who was the father of the twins born in 1908 to Mudocci--who never married? Mudocci took this secret to her grave. In 2012, her granddaughter stunned viewers of a televized interview when she announced that she had reason to believe her grandfather might be Edvard Munch. Early in 2013, author Rima Shore tracked down Mudocci's granddaughter to learn m