Falun

watercolor by Hallie Cohen

Matisse famously painted "The Red Studio,” which was a watershed in the history of modernism. Falun, in the south of Sweden, is the site of a famous copper mine which is also the source of the color, Falun red. For associationists, the Falun Gong, Red China, and the movie Reds may come to mind. However, the copper mine goes back to the 10th century and has archeological interest due to the pagan peoples who considered it to possess a spirit life. Readers of James George Frazer’s discredited The Golden Bough may unearth significances here. But what's most dramatic is the ubiquity of Falun on exteriors of houses. You can only wonder how the history of art would have been changed had Matisse discovered Falun.

read the Kirkus review of The Kafka Studies Department by Francis Levy

and also read Joan Baum's NPR review of The Kafka Studies Department