The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired

by Francine Prose
The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired cover
Good Books rating 3.75
Technical
  • ID: 181
  • Added: 2025-09-03
  • Updated: 2025-09-03
  • ISBN: 9781908526434
  • Published: 2013-09-01
  • Reviews: 2

To be a muse to a celebrated artist is surely one of the most flattering roles a person can have. But what is the life of a muse really like? In this spirited (and provocative) expose of nine women who fired the imaginations of some of the most inimitable artists and thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Francine Prose draws on photographs, diaries, correspondence, memoirs, and original works of art that reveal the complexity of these artist-muse relationships and illustrate the muse in all her guises: as inspiration, angel, equal partner and, sometimes, monster. The nine muses are: Hester Thrale (Samuel Johnson), Alice Liddell (Lewis Carroll), Elizabeth Siddal (Dante Gabriel Rossetti). Lou-Andreas-Salomé (Nietzsche, Rilke and Freud), Gala Dalí (Salvador Dalí), Lee Miller (Man Ray), Charis Weston (Edward Weston), Suzanne Farrell (George Balanchine) and Yoko Ono (John Lennon).

Reviews
Bookreporter · 2025-09-03
engaging 4.00

The book is described as hard to put down, an enjoyable and unique blend of biography, gender studies, and philosophy. It offers a fresh perspective on the relationships between muses and artists.

This review highlights the engaging nature of Prose's book, emphasizing its unique approach that blends biography with elements of gender studies and philosophy. The reviewer finds it to be a delightful read that offers new insights into the muse-artist relationship, making it both accessible and thought-provoking. The book's structure and storytelling captivate the reader, making it difficult to set aside.

Quick quotes

    Hard to put down.

    Not quite biography, not quite gender studies or philosophy, but something unique and enjoyable.

    Prose's delightful book will...

Goodreads · 2025-09-03
thoughtful 3.50

The book thoughtfully examines the complex and often troubling dynamics between muses and artists, highlighting the sacrifices and difficulties muses endured. It praises the author's clear, balanced writing style and insightful analysis, though questions the author's apparent contempt or pity for the women featured.

This review appreciates Francine Prose's skillful handling of the difficult subject of muses in art history, noting her beautiful writing and even-handed analysis. The reviewer finds the portrayal of muses and artists mostly negative, with muses often victims or difficult personalities and artists mostly abusive. Despite this, the inclusion of three muses who pursued their own art offers some relief. The reviewer is puzzled by Prose's apparent disdain or pity for her subjects, wondering why she would research their lives so extensively if she did not find them interesting or worthy of respect.

Quick quotes

    Prose thinks brilliantly, writes beautifully, and, except for instances where her opinion of the situation is folded into the paragraph, reports cleanly.

    Everyone comes off badly here - the artists who for the most part were abusive and the muses who were almost all either shrews or victims.

    Why did the author write this book? She seems to have felt contempt and/or pity for most if not all of the women featured here.

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