Set in the world of fine art and led by three generations of strong women, The Art Lover tells the story of three couples and how they each finally find love. Foremost to this tale is the childhood attachment, adolescent estrangement, and adult reconciliation between artistically-gifted Kate Germaine and her mother, Joanne. But it is also about the passion that museum director Phillip Gambrell and art teacher Janovar Savocek come to share, and the arduous and ultimately triumphant courtship of the art collector Countess Elena D'Allessandro Ricci by her confidential agent, Eduard LaValle. From the home of a portrait painter and his wife to the galleries of a great museum, and from the classroom of a brutally brilliant art teacher to the isolated retreat of Riablo, the legendary modern artist, the love of art and the art of love beautifully merge in this epic tale of discovery.