London Art Chase by Natalie Grant Read Free Book Online

night.” She studied a museum map. “Looks like most of the paintings are upstairs. Oh, and there are a few audio tours. Would you girls like an audio guide while we explore the museum?”
    â€œLet me see!” Lulu said, pulling on the map to see the list.
    â€œArt Detectives,” Mia read over Lulu’s shoulder. “That one sounds fun.”
    â€œWhoa, really?” Lulu asked, and then she spotted the title for herself. “Yes! The Glimmer girls have a new case!”
    Maddie had to admit, it sounded fun to be an art detective, but what she really wanted was time to look at the art. Maybe the detective tour would help keep Lulu interested. If so, Maddie would have more time—hopefully enough to sketch too.
    Miss Julia rented audio tour headsets, and they all listened to the introduction. The audio tour told the story of two special agents uncovering clues about the meanings of some of the most mysterious paintings in the collection. Maddie, Mia, Lulu, and Miss Julia climbed the marble stairs and then followed the tour from painting to painting. While Lulu looked for clues in each painting, Maddie sketched what she saw. The questions in the tour were actually pretty interesting. Maddie liked thinking about why a painter might have painted a specific image, or what the painting might have meant to him or her.
    They wandered from room to room, each one painted a different color. Most of the rooms had about thirty paintings on the walls, even though the rooms were large enough to hold many more. Maddie liked the way each painting had its own space with lots of wall around it. She thought about what Dad had said at tea—that she and her sisters each had their own space in the Glimmer family. If she and her sisters were each paintings, Lulu would be bright colors—fireworks, maybe. Mia would be leading a charge, maybe not in a battle, but her painting would definitely be bold and brave. Maddie wasn’t sure what kind of painting she’d be. Maybe she’d be one of the calm landscapes with trees and lakes and mountains.
    â€œCome on, come on!” Lulu crowed, tugging on Maddie’s arm.
    Soon, they were in Room 43 with the Impressionist paintings. Maddie thought the Gallery should call the rooms by their colors. If they did, Room 43 would be the Purple Room, which sounded much nicer to Maddie. As she glanced around the walls, one of the paintings caught her eye.
    â€œLook at this one!” She moved in closer to study the image.
    â€œI like the colors—the blues, purples, and pinks,” Mia said, joining her. “And it has just the right amount of detail.”
    Maddie tilted her head one way and then the other. “I like the way the paint is so textured, with all the mixing in the clouds and the water and the rocks.”
    Miss Julia came over and stood next to Maddie, reading the plaque. “It’s called Moulin Huet Bay, Gurnsey . It’s by Renoir.”
    â€œI don’t think that’s the right name for this painting at all,” Maddie said. “It should be called something like . . .”
    â€œBeachside Blues!” Lulu suggested.
    â€œMaybe . . .” Maddie said. “But when you have the blues, you’re sad. In the painting, the people are playing in the ocean and having a lot of fun.”
    â€œSo what would you call it?” Mia asked.
    â€œSomething that describes the way the paint is done in all of those splotches, like, I don’t know . . . maybe ‘Sun-Splattered Afternoon.’ ”
    â€œI like that,” Mia said. “Like Starry Night . A painting’s name should describe what the painting is all about.”
    â€œToo bad Renoir isn’t here so you could suggest that to him,” Miss Julia said. “What else do you like about the painting, Maddie?”
    â€œWell . . .” Maddie started.
    â€œWhat’s that?” Lulu asked, loud enough to stop everyone in the