Review: The Last Painting Of Sara De Vos

A self-portrait by Judith Leyster, one of only 25 women artists from the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. Dominic Smith’s The Last Painting Of Sara De Vos imagines a painter like this who leaves behind a mysterious painting. Photo: Public domain

Let us begin, as this book does, in November of 1957. We are in Manhattan, New York City, at the home of Rachel and Marty de Groot. The occasion is a $200-a-head charity dinner for the Aid Society. It is black tie.

The guests are a mixture of uptown lawyers, surgeons, CEOs, philanthropist wives, a retired diplomat. The food is elegantly lavish: “A long table has been set up with flutes of Champagne, tiers of profiteroles, ramekins of crème brulee, Belgian chocolates.”