The wizard of light

Dr. Browl is a flamboyant figure who turns the revered halls of Europe’s great art museums into his personal stage. Arriving in an enormous black limousine with a crew of servants, he unveils a towering easel of wood, brass, and steel, fitted with hidden lamps that shine a light only he can see through black‑lensed spectacles. With wild, claw‑like hands he flings paint at a frantic pace, producing grotesque caricatures at a speed that would empty a gallery in a single day. Though his copies are laughably distorted, his relentless energy and the mystery of his secret illumination hint at a purpose far beyond mere mischief.

After two relentless years of storming through every major collection, Browun’s grand tour comes to a sudden halt in the spring of 196‑. A few months later, a plain crate is delivered to a London auction house containing Manet’s “Boy with Drum,” a painting the owner never sent out. The unexplained arrival sets off a chain of baffling events that suggest Browun’s monstrous easel may have been more than a theatrical gimmick.