The Italian Teacher

by Tom Rachman

This is the second book I have read by this author. Right now I can't recall the first one, the Imperfectionists, I still have it so I may reread it.

This books is about the relationship with a young man, nicknamed "Pinch" and his famous artist father Bear Bavinsky.  When the book opens Pinch is a young boy and his father is living with him and his mother, in Rome, having left behind a wife and kids in the U.S.

Bear is self-absorbed and a serial adulterer.  While he is living with Pinch and his mother, Bear s having an affair with at least one other woman.  He eventually divorces Pinch's mother and moves onto to another woman and to starting another family.  By the end of his life Bear as 7 or so wives and has fathered 17 children.

Bear loves to cuddle with Pinch when he is in the mood but most of the time he locks himself away in his studio and refuses to let anyone see his work.  Bear is a perfectionist.  He labours over his paintings and frequently burns those he is not happy with.  Bear thinks he is the genius of the age, disparages the new modern artists.  He refuses to sell his art to private collectors.  He wants all his art to go to museums (so he will be honoured in posterity) and not hidden away.

 He promises to do things with Pinch but never lives up to his promises.  One of Pinch's step sisters arrives from the U.S. for a visit.  Bear treats her in the same way as Pinch, hardly spending any time with her.  Pinch's mother is an aspiring Potter but she sacrifices her art to serve Bear.  When he leaves her and Pinch they struggle in poverty and she can't do much of her craft.  Before Bear leaves he on one occasion takes Pinch into his studio and gives him some instruction about painting.

One day Bear reluctantly takes Pinch to an art launch in London.  He tells people at the event that his son is an artist to watch.  Pinch is so excited by this praise. Midway through the evening his father takes him back to the hotel and dumps him there so he can go back to the art launch and schmooze. Pinch never forgets this attention and aspires to be a painter after his father leaves.

When Pinch goes to visit his father in the U.S. with his next family he takes along a piece of art he has done and asks for his father's opinion.  Bear stalls looking at it but just before Pinch leaves he does have a look at it.... his response is hot positive and Pinch is devastated, vowing never to paint again.

Pinch's mother is very fragile emotionally but Pinch decides to go to the U.S. to study, leaving his mother behind in England.  He doesn't call her as often as he should.  Eventually she commits suicide.  Pinch makes friends with a male student and gets in a relationship with a girl.  They talk about getting married but when she gets accepted to a presigious New York University and he doesn't they part company.  Pinch is devastated by this.  Around the same time he separates himself from his male friend, who has been kicked out of university.

Pinch continues to have a relationship with his father.  Often going to help him at his cabin in France when he is summoned.  He is very hurt when his father tells him one day "you work for me!" but he doesn't sever contact.

Pinch gets a PhD but cannot find a job as an Art Prof so he becomes an Italian teacher at a London language school.  He marries, but divorces not long after.

One time when Pinch and his father are at the cabin in France they have a big fight and Pinch drives away. Pinch goes into the studio where is father has been storing a number of pieces of art.  Pinch returns to the cabin and studio and in a fit of anger at his father punches one of the paintings and puts a hole in it. He is horrified by what he has done and tries to patch the painting.  He lives in fear that his father will come discover what he has done.

One of his step sisters contacts him, telling him that she is in an abusive marriage but can't afford to leave.  Pinch decides to make a copy of the painting he damaged.  He then goes to an agent and offers the painting, as a Bear original, but insists it must go to a private buyer.  The painting sells and he gives the money to his step sister.   Pinch now has two things to worry about being "outed".  He thinks everything will be okay but then he is contacted one day and asked the value of the painting as the man who bought it and his wife are divorcing and the painting may go up for auction.  It works out okay for him as the husband rebuys the painting in the divorce settlement.  Pinch thinks that things are okay until one day the owner of the painting tries to meet his father at an art exhibit.  Pinch successfully gets his father away from the man before the lie can come out.

Pinch and his univeristy friend, with whom he has renewed his friendship, are visiting his Father in France.  At one point his father does tell him that he thought he, Pinch, did have some talent.  Pinch is furious that his father lied to him initially.  He feels that his father is responsible for him giving up on art and his very unimpressive life and career.  They have another fight and Pinch drives away. His father has a heart attack and dies, leaving Pinch all his estate.   The siblings are furious that Pinch is getting all the art.  After being threatened with lawsuits he decides to share the art with them.  But what he does is make copies of all the art stored in the studio and give these copies to his siblings.  He keeps the originals stored in the attic of the studio.  He is of course torn up with worry about this being discovered.

Bear had been saying for years that he was working on new pieces but it turns out he had nothing new. Pinch finds some pictures of his various siblings at the cabin and starts painting them.  He then decides to give these paintings to the siblings as original Bear art.  The siblings, who like Pinch felt ignored by their father, feel great that their father thought enough about them to paint them.  Eventually there is an exhibition of this "faces" series and there is talk of them being sold.  Again Pinch is terrified as these are frauds.

Pinch has not aged well, he looks much older than his 50 years.  He and his father both smoked pipes. Pinch has always been quite frail physically but he is devastated when he learns he has cancer and has a short time to live  He has to have part of his tongue cut out because of cancer so he can no longer speak (symbolism).  He leaves his fathers cabin to a fellow language teacher he has been living with.  When she and Marsden (Pinch's friend) go to the Cabin and studio in France the discover copies of some of Bear's famous art.  At first they think that he must have made two copies of his art, but knowing that he burned many of his pictures they realize this is not the likely explanation.  They suspect that Pinch is the one who made the copies. They realize there will be legal chaos if the truth comes out that the paintings in the market are copies.

Pinch's lover decides to destroy the originals.  At first Marsden is horrified at the thought of destroying the original work of a great master.  But he then helps her burn them.  They feel good that Pinch's artistic efforts will be enjoyed into the future.

This was a fascinating story.  The author did a great job of portraying the cruel father, the doting son.
You really felt the pain the father had inflicted on all his families and sad for Pinch who, like all his siblings, desparately wanted his father's praise and attention, only to be ignored or even emotionally wounded by the father.  A very powerful story.