Short Fiction · Chapter
On Approval explained
The chapter explores the story of Gebhard Knopfschrank, a Pomeranian peasant-turned-artist who frequents the Bohemian Restaurant Nuremberg in Soho.
What happens
The chapter explores the story of Gebhard Knopfschrank, a Pomeranian peasant-turned-artist who frequents the Bohemian Restaurant Nuremberg in Soho. His unsold, fantastical paintings of wild animals in London streets are met with skepticism by the regulars, who debate whether he is a genius or a fraud. After a long period of financial struggle, he suddenly celebrates with a lavish meal, leading the patrons to believe he has sold his masterpiece to an American millionaire. In reality, the money comes from compensation paid by a rich American who accidentally killed his family's pigs, and Knopfschrank decides to abandon art and return to Pomerania.
Themes in this chapter
The Absurdity of Social Rituals
The restaurant regulars engage in pretentious artistic judgments and social posturing, only to be fooled by Knopfschrank's mundane reason for celebration.
Hypocrisy and Moral Facade
The patrons feign belief in Knopfschrank's genius after his apparent success, buying his sketches only when they think he is famous, revealing their insincerity.
The Futility of Ambition
Knopfschrank's artistic ambition leads to starvation and failure; he ultimately abandons his dream for the practical life of a peasant farmer.
Characters to notice
- Sylvia Seltoun
A regular at the Nuremberg Restaurant who speculates about Knopfschrank's talent and later buys his sketches.
- Mrs. Pentherby
Mentioned as Mrs. Nougat-Jones, a diner who questions the artistic merit of Knopfschrank's work and buys a sketch.
Key passages
“Of all the genuine Bohemians who strayed from time to time into the would-be Bohemian circle of the Restaurant Nuremberg, Owl Street, Soho, none was more interesting and more elusive than Gebhard Knopfschrank.”
Among the true artists who occasionally visited the pseudo-Bohemian crowd at the Nuremberg Restaurant, Gebhard Knopfschrank was the most fascinating and mysterious.
Introduces the central character and setting.
“He had no friends, and though he treated all the restaurant frequenters as acquaintances he never seemed to wish to carry the acquaintanceship beyond the door that led into Owl Street and the outer world.”
He kept everyone at a distance, interacting only within the restaurant and never forming deeper connections.
Highlights Knopfschrank's aloofness.
“The question that had long and seriously agitated the frequenters of the Nuremberg was whether this goose-boy migrant was really a soul-driven genius, spreading his wings to the light, or merely an enterprising young man who fancied he could paint and was pardonably anxious to escape from the monotony of rye bread diet and the sandy, swine-bestrewn plains of Pomerania.”
The regulars debated whether Knopfschrank was a true artistic genius or just a clever peasant trying to escape his dull rural life.
Captures the central uncertainty about his talent.
“If his work was not obviously stamped with the hallmark of genius, at any rate it was remarkable for its choice of an unusual and unvarying theme.”
Though his paintings might not be masterpieces, they were notable for their bizarre and consistent subject matter.
Describes the unique nature of his art.
“God be thanked for rich Americans, who are always in a hurry to get somewhere else.”
Thank goodness for wealthy Americans who are always rushing and willing to pay over the odds.
Reveals the true source of Knopfschrank's sudden wealth.