A deal with art

Evocations of artists, art history, and the art world have become a near staple of the literary novel, nationally and internationally. Local examples from the past decade include Emily Bitto’s The Strays (2014), Gail Jones’s The Death of Noah Glass (2018), and Katrina Kell’s Chloé (2024). Alex Miller’s novel The Deal, his fourteenth, is the latest to probe the alluring, sometimes shady art world. It is not Miller’s first such foray; Autumn Laing (2011) was based on the machinations of the Melbourne Heide set.

The contents page states this is ‘a true story in four parts’. Naïve it might be to read ‘true’ literally, but the main character, Andy McPherson, has parallels with Miller – too numerous to list – and with select characters in earlier novels. Suffice to say, Miller knows his territory; his settings are precise, and the character of Andy convinces.