Pollock's Last Lover: A Novel of Art, Deception, and Betrayal

In 2006, Sotheby’s sells a painting by Jackson Pollock for $140 million—the highest sum ever paid for a work of art. Two weeks later, an older woman named Ruth Kligman, in high heels and a dusty fascinator, contacts a smaller, less prominent auction house to announce that she was Pollock’s lover, and that he gave her his last painting. She declares that it was selfish to keep it in her apartment for fifty years, and that people should see this masterpiece in galleries and museums the world over. The bidding will start at $50 million.

Gwen, an up-and-coming associate at the firm, is assigned the task of verifying the painting’s authenticity. It is her biggest project yet, and the company must have absolute certainty. With every step she takes into the investigation, though, she finds larger questions—about Ruth’s cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock’s sudden and violent death.  

What follows, in alternating chapters and time periods, is a multigenerational portrait of women’s ambition set against the life and work of Jackson Pollock. From smoky Greenwich Village dive bars to glitzy art auctions, from the empty studio of a man once known for his artistic stamina to the fine museums where his works hang, Ruth’s controversial painting is a window into two eras—and the ongoing struggle of women to develop power and freedom on their own terms.