Welcome to Barcelona in the early 20th century — the heyday of modernism, a clash of ideologies, a generational conflict, disputes are raging, blood is boiling. The young artist Dalmau Sala, in love with life, with painting, with a woman, is torn between authentic art, which requires complete self-sacrifice, and unnecessary but convenient crafts for the rich and indifferent, between pleasure and duty, between romance and comfort. Dalmau seeks himself and his true path — and together with his beloved will walk the terrible paths amidst the ecstasy and horror of a world standing on the threshold of a new century. Ildefonso Falcones, a lawyer by profession, a historian by calling, one of the greatest contemporary Spanish writers, was awarded numerous prestigious prizes for his first novel “Cathedral by the Sea”, including Euskadi de Plata (2006, Spain), Qué Leer (2007, Spain), and the Giovanni Boccaccio Prize (2007, Italy). Falcones' books have already sold over 10 million copies in several dozen countries. “Sielų tapytojas” is his hymn to his native Barcelona, a magnificent saga of people in the flow of historical events and a chronicle of human passions: love, revenge, fidelity to art and ideals in turbulent times when everything changes, from politics to morality and aesthetics, history unfolds like a giant canvas, passions create a great city, and the city shapes human destinies for centuries to come.
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