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Culture & Religion

Steve Martin on Writing & Art

New York’s art world is the subject of Steve Martin’s third novel, filtered through the eyes of an ambitious young woman. For Martin, the new book comes with greater confidence.

Martin explains: “When I was younger I thought, am I supposed to have a profound experience looking at a painting? With music, even with books, that comes more naturally. The first painting I ever owned was a simple, antique-store find; a lighthouse, moonlight on the water, that sort of thing. I found that it wasn’t until I spent time alone with it that I had any kind of communion with it.” Martin’s specialty is American art, mostly 20th century—in 2005 he donated $1 million to the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens for the American Art division.


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