MFAH Book Club 2017

µ˙The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston FALL MFAH Book Club 2017

Kiss Carlo a novel by Adriana Trigiani

An exhilarating epic novel of love, loyalty, and creativity, told against the backdrop of some of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies.

It’s 1949 and the Palazzini Cab Company of South Philadelphia is flourishing. When an urgent telegram from Italy arrives, though, it upends the life of orphan Nicky Castone, who lives and works with his uncle Dom Palazzini and his family. Nicky decides that he wants more—more than just a job driving Car No. 4 and more than his longtime fiancée, Peachy DePino, can offer. When he admits to Peachy that he’s been secretly moonlighting at the local Shakespeare company, Nicky must choose the conventional life his family expects of him, or chart a new course and risk losing everything he cherishes.

Adriana Trigiani’s consummate storytelling skill and her trademark wit will enthrall readers in this jubilee, resplendent with hope, love, and the abiding power of la famiglia.

How to Use This Discussion Guide How to Book an MFAH Book Club Tour All art—whether literary or visual—arises from the context of its time. For book clubs and other groups of six or more confirmed Creating bridges between the literary and visual arts is what participants, tours related to Trigiani’s Kiss Carlo are available makes the MFAH Book Club unique. on select days and times October 1, 2017–January 31, 2017. Tours are led by Museum docents and feature excerpts from the This discussion guide features questions about broad themes— book to drive discussion about works at the Museum. mapping, family structure, and identity—all addressed in Trigiani’s Kiss Carlo, as well as questions about works of art in the For more information, visit mfah.org/bookclub. Please email Museum’s collections and exhibitions. [email protected] with any questions.

Read the book, discuss some or all of the questions with your group, and then reserve an MFAH Book Club tour online.

1 Seeking the Human Spirit: An HGO/MFAH Collaboration

Launching this fall, the Museum will be partnering with Houston Grand Opera on a six-year multidisciplinary initiative, Seeking the Human Spirit. The initiative is designed to highlight the universal spiritual themes raised in opera and to expand and deepen Houstonians’ connections to opera and art. As a part of this collaboration, the Museum has joined with Houston Grand Opera to trace connections between the HGO season opener, La traviata; the fall 2017 MFAH Book Club selection, Kiss Carlo; and artwork from the Museum’s collections.

For tickets and information about La traviata, please visit houstongrandopera.org.

Mapping a Universe of Belonging . . .

The notion of mapping emerges in a number of different capacities throughout this book. This discussion guide investigates a number of the different arenas in which ideas of layering and the tracing of genealogical and historical frameworks have been approached in the lives of Trigiani’s characters. Read the following passage, and consider the topographical nature of the description.

“Nicky had long suspected that there were two levels to life—the street level, where he drove the cab, upon which people lived and worked and shopped, ate and slept, made love, argued and settled their differences, and the other level, the depths, beneath the grid, the pavement and the sidewalks, deep into the earth, under the rivers, through the silt past the stone and clay, under the layers of rock, deeper still to the magma, the tectonic plates, farther down and in, as far as one could go, to the center of things, where feelings were buried and could be mined if a human soul bothered to dig.” (p. 152, 153)

Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Arm Organization, 1914, The grid is a structural device utilized by many modern and contemporary artists as a oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, framework for constructing forms, layering paint and color, and organizing visual information. museum purchase, 80.33. © Peyton Wright Gallery Compare and contrast the sentiment expressed by Nicky in the above passage to artist Location: Audrey Jones Beck Building, Stanton Macdonald-Wright’s aesthetic approach to mapping according to a grid. 108 Hevrdejs Gallery Can you identify other descriptive moments in the book that hint at the idea of an underlying physical or ideological grid?

Space

“Places are important, Mr. Collier. At the theater, sometimes we think to do the play without a set, just lights and black walls. We call it minimalism. And pretty soon we’re in rehearsal, and we realize that the actors need things to fill out the world. They need places to sit. Doors to move through. Rooms to make memories in, to live inside. A Place to hold their stories. A context to be. Familiar places that we return to, where we remember the scent of the kitchen when our mothers baked or the wallpaper of roses in the stairwell or the old porch with the bum step; they aren’t nothing. They are part of what makes us human. We’re defined by where we dwell and how we take up space in this life and what we choose to put in it . . . ” (p. 405, Calla)

Location: Audrey Jones Beck Building, 109 Long & Sarofim Gallery 2 In the passage above, Calla Borelli posits that a person’s space is integral to the way that we see and position ourselves in the world. Do you agree with her, that it is our collected and curated things that define who we are? Calla makes an interesting reference to minimalism as a comparison to a more animated life punctuated by knickknacks and sentimental ornaments. Consider that same comparison as it applies to the two works of art shown below. Which approach do you prefer and why?

Edouard Vuillard, Marcelle Aron (Madame Tristan Bernard), 1914, distemper on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Alice C. Simkins in memory of Alice N. Hanszen, 95.222.

Location: Audrey Jones Beck Building, 221 Shell Oil Gallery

Opera Note: A Life Disposed

The opera La traviata is based on a French play by Alexandre Dumas, La Dame aux Camélias, first published in 1848. The opening scene of the play is an estate sale following the untimely death of title character Marguerite Gautier, renamed Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s operatic reprise.

“On the 12th day of March 1847, in the rue Laffitte, I happened upon a large yellow notice announcing a sale of furniture and valuable curios. An estate was to be disposed of, the owner having died. The notice did not name the dead person, but the sale was to be held at 9 rue d’Antin on the 16th, between noon and five o’clock.” (p. 1, La Dame aux Camélias)

The scene continues as we follow the narrator through Marguerite’s “glittering den of iniquity,” the secret life of a courtesan on display for all to see. Parisian society ladies were free to indulge in what would have otherwise been observed as a shameful curiosity; strolling from room to room, searching for palpable evidence of a less than virtuous lifestyle. Consider this moment of public intrusion into Marguerite’s home. How does this relate to Calla’s reflections Costume sketch by Cait O’Connor on space at the prospect of disassembling her childhood home following her father’s death?

Nostalgia and the Sensorium

“Flour and egg and a bit of water, kneaded and pressed into dough, was the only tactile memory he had of his mother. If he concentrated and used all of his senses, he could see her at the table in this room, wearing an apron with red pockets in the shapes of hearts. He could inhale the scent of the flour, touch the soft dough snakes on the cold table, pinch a taste of it, feel the sting on his hand when Aunt Jo lightly smacked it and the warmth of his mother’s embrace that followed the smack.” (p. 136)

Follow this link to listen to Rosemary Clooney singing the 1937 Benny Goodman song, “Memories of You,” youtu.be/26EVJzc0m8g. Consider the song alongside Pieter Claesz., Still Life with a Basket of Grapes, c. 1625, oil on wood, The Edward and Sally Nicky’s recollection of his mother illustrated above, and the still-life painting by Pieter Speelman Collection. Claesz. The kitchen and subsequent dining rooms are spaces that seem particularly Location: Audrey Jones Beck Building, 210 saturated with remembrances for us all. What is it about those dining spaces that make Coneway Gallery them particularly ripe with nostalgia? In reading Nicky’s description of his mother’s kitchen, does it bring to mind any particular occasion, aromas, or tastes that are of personal significance to you? 3 Time

“Nicky got his bearings. As he slowly walked back to his car, he heard the ticking of the big clock, the one that determines the exact moment of a man’s birth and his death and is marked by every timepiece set by the sun. He saw the days of his life pass in the plain-faced round clock in the auditorium at Saint Charles Borromeo school, in the priest’s small gold travel clock in the sacristy at Saint Rita’s, in the cuckoo in the kitchen at the Palazzinis’, and on the flashing counter on a grenade in France . . . ” (p. 147)

Eadweard Muybridge first made his name in 1867 with large-format photographs of Yosemite Valley; however he is best known for his pioneering photographic studies of motion, begun in the 1870s, and his early work in motion-picture projection. In the 1880s, his photography of humans and animals in motion, made using 24 cameras arranged Eadweard Muybridge, Movement of the hand; beating time, Plate 535 from Animal Locomotion, 1887, collotype, the Museum of Fine horizontally and parallel to the line of motion, was sponsored by the Arts, Houston, The Target Collection of American Photography, University of Pennsylvania. Movement of the hand; beating time is one of museum purchase funded by Target Stores, 81.135. 781 plates, comprising 20,000 photographs, published in 1887 as Animal Location: not currently on view Locomotion: An Electro-Photographic Investigation of Connective Phases of Animal Movements.

How do the frames of Muybridge’s composition reflect the ticking of Nicky’s clocks? In what other ways is the concept of passing time illustrated within the context of the book?

Opera Note: the Villainy of Time

There are arguably four main characters in Guiseppe Verdi’s La traviata: Violetta Valéry, infamous Parisian courtesan Alfredo Germont, Violetta’s lover and high-society Parisian gentleman Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father 19th-century, high-society Paris

It is easy to interpret Giorgio Germont’s character as the story’s villain, as it is Giorgio who separates the two lovers, Alfredo and Violetta. Germont, however, was acting as an agent of the societal expectations of his era.

If the relationship between Alfredo and Violetta had been publicized to the high-society Parisian social circles, it would have brought shame to the Germont family name. Arguably then, the true villain of the narrative becomes society itself. We are each products of our own time, and thus held accountable to the societal norms of the era, for better or worse. This fact results in an incredible personal sacrifice for Violetta as she concedes to Giorgio’s insistence on a separation from her true love.

Costume sketch by Cait O’Connor In what ways do we see such societal influences also impact the characters from Kiss Carlo? How do the social norms and expectations differ in the eras illustrated in both La traviata and Kiss Carlo? How do they compare to present- day, 21st-century society?

4 Style and Entertainment

“Okay, Nick, anything that you have to explain in that kind of detail is out of style. It’s for the history books no one reads because no one cares. We’re young. We can’t live in the past, in an attic full of dust and trunks and musty pantaloons. We belong to the here and the now . . . We’re living on the cusp of 1950. Everything is new. It’s even called new. Think about it. Even the dresses—they’re calling them the New Look. We are going to be the 1950s!” (p. 101, Peachy)

Kiss Carlo illuminates an era marked by technological evolution, in both fashion and entertainment. The moving pictures of household television sets begin to replace the more antiquated costuming and performance traditions embodied in staged productions, as large blouse-mill operations replace the hand-stitching techniques used to embellish Calla’s Shakespearean ensembles.

Artist Alexander Calder introduces two radical concepts into modern sculpture: color and movement. Working in Paris in the 1930s, Calder became fascinated with the geometric paintings of Piet Mondrian and began to create mobile sculptures that liberated and expanded the simple shapes of abstract art into space.

Alexander Calder, International Mobile, 1949, sheet aluminum, rods, and wire, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of D. and J. de Menil in memory of Marcel Schlumberger, 62.46. © 2015 Estate of Alexander Calder / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Location: Audrey Jones Beck Building, 109 Long & Sarofim Gallery

In comparison, painter Joshua Reynolds, first president of the Royal Academy in London, suggested in his lectures that modern painting, even portraiture, be based on antique prototypes.

Consider Calder’s kinetic sculpture and Reynolds’s 18th-century work, Portrait of Mrs. Jelf Powis and her Daughter. Think about the materials and techniques used by both artists, as well as how both works of art exist in space. In what ways are the works both innovative and antiquated? Can true innovation occur without referencing the past?

Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Mrs. Jelf Powis and her daughter, oil on canvas, 1777, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston, BF.1985.7.

Location: in the exhibition The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta, Audrey Jones Beck Building, 114 Brown Foundation Galleries

5 Opera Note: A Woman’s Perspective

A quartet of powerful women have been assembled by Houston Grand Opera for their staged production of La traviata.

Albina Shagimuratova, HGO Studio Alumna (2006–08), sings the role of Violetta Valéry. Known for her dazzling portrayals of opera’s most infamous heroines, she has been seen in leading roles on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Bolshoi Theatre, and Teatro all Scala.

Arin Arbus, daughter of actor and photographer Allan Arbus, has been brought on as the director of the production. She is an associate artistic director with Theatre for a New Audience in New York City, a company focused on Shakespeare and classic drama.

Eun Sun Kim makes her HGO and American debut conducting the piece. She studied composition and conducting in Seoul, South Korea, continuing her training in Stuttgart, and has led performances in Madrid, London, Berlin, Vienna, and Stockholm.

Cait O’Connor, renowned artist and costume designer, creates a world of opulence and decadence in which the drama unfolds. Her watercolor designs featured in this study guide come vividly to life on stage.

Think about the host of female characters cast in Kiss Carlo. What role does each character’s distinctive voice play in the narrative? How have considerations surrounding gender roles evolved over time? In what ways have the art and entertainment industries reinforced or combatted traditional gender roles?

Author Biography

Adriana Trigiani is beloved by millions of readers around the world for her bestselling novels. She wrote the blockbuster The Shoemaker’s Wife, the Big Stone Gap series, the Valentine trilogy and Lucia, Lucia. Trigiani’s themes of love and work, emphasis upon craftsmanship and family life have brought her legions of fans. Their devotion has made Adriana one of “the reigning queens of women’s fiction.” (USA Today)

The New York Times calls her “a comedy writer with a heart of gold,” her books “tiramisu for the soul.” Her books have been translated in 36 countries around the world.

Learning and Interpretation programs receive generous funding from the Sterling-Turner Foundation; Institute of Museum and Library Services; Houston Junior Woman’s Club; ExxonMobil; Mercantil Bank; Mr. William J. Hill; The Windgate Charitable Foundation; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; Sharon G. Dies; and the Susan Vaughan Foundation. 6