The Art of Vanishing

A stunningly original love story between a museum employee and the man in a masterpiece hanging on the walls—a breathtaking debut about time, art, and the enduring power of love.

Jean’s life is the same day after day. Frozen in time by his painter father, the legendary Henri Matisse, Jean observes the ebb and flow of museum guests with no way to communicate with them. But his world takes a mesmerizing turn when Claire, a new museum employee, enters his life.

Night after night, Claire moves through the gallery where Jean's painting hangs, talking to herself as she mops the floors and gazes at the masterpieces above. The alluring man in the corner of the Matisse—is he watching her? Why does she feel a deepening pull to him, like he can see her truest self, her secrets? Did he just move? 

Soon, Claire discovers she can step through the frame of Jean's painting and into his world, where they begin a seemingly impossible affair, falling in love against the backdrop of the gallery’s other paintings come to life—glittering parties, exhilarating horse races, and windswept beach bluffs, that they can move through together and where Claire is seemingly the only modern visitor.

But as their happiness is threatened by challenges both inside and outside the museum, Claire and Jean find themselves in a fight to preserve the love they’ve only dared to dream of. Will their extraordinary connection defy the confines of reality, or will the forces conspiring against them shatter their carefully curated happiness?

Story Locale:Philadelphia, PA