Nominated for the P2 Listeners’ Novel Prize

In 1789 Francisco Goya is appointed court painter in Spain. The country is in turmoil, shaken by violent political struggle, a rigid religious order and brutal famine. Weakened by illness and almost completely deaf, Goya is nevertheless at his artistic peak. Everybody wants to be painted by him now.

The Duchess of Alba, Cayetana, is Spain’s most powerful woman. She seeks out Francisco Goya in his atelier and asks to be portrayed by him. That is the beginning of a passionate and unheard of alliance between the two. Goya seeks the truth in art as well as life. When he paints Cayetana nude in full figure, the Spanish inquisition turns its threatening gaze at him.

I Saw Everything is an intense, gripping novel about great art and disobidient love, about sudden death and all-consuming ecstasy.

Praise for I Saw Everything:

This is well written, captivating literature about an extraordinary artistic oeuvre.
Aftenposten

A portrait of a beguiling artist, of a turbulent and complex period in history, and of something as abstract as an artist’s methods and motivations. One is gripped by the desire to sit down and peruse Goya’s paintings. And when you do, you see them in a new light after having read this novel.
Klassekampen

Blom tells [the dramatic story] elegantly and with insight … a convincing story about the power and passion of art, but also about humanity’s greed, the raw edges of reality and the desire to survive.
Dagsavisen