In the summer of 1937, a group of prominent artists and creative figures, including Pablo Picasso, Dora Maar, Man Ray, Lee Miller, Roland Penrose, and the poet Paul Éluard with his wife Nusch, gathered on the Côte d’Azur for a brief period of artistic collaboration and personal freedom before the outbreak of World War II. This moment, marked by a relaxed social dynamic and fluid interpersonal relationships, is the focus of Anna Thomasson’s new book, *A Vast Horizon*.

Thomasson, whose previous work examined the bohemian aristocratic circles of the 1920s, explores here the overlapping creative and sexual networks among these avant-garde personalities during their time at the Hôtel-Restaurant Vaste Horizon in Mougins, near Cannes. The book takes its title from this hotel, where this “temporary community” formed, and also alludes to the ominous tensions of an impending global conflict, symbolized by Picasso’s near-daily collaboration with Éluard on the monumental anti-war painting *Guernica*.

Central to Thomasson’s narrative is a famous photograph taken by Lee Miller during a picnic on the Île Sainte-Marguerite. The image, featuring Penrose, Man Ray, Ady Fidelin, Éluard, and Nusch in a casual yet charged setting—with the women topless and the men appearing self-satisfied—serves as a visual encapsulation of the book’s key themes: freedom, complex gender dynamics, bodies, and sexuality.

Thomasson weaves together biographical sketches, historical context, and detailed pictorial analysis to reconstruct this sun-soaked moment. She highlights lesser-known figures like Fidelin, a Black dancer and model who disappeared from the historical record after her relationship with Man Ray ended, and Nusch, who survived Nazi persecution during the occupation of France. The book also touches on the personal traits and behaviors of these figures, such as Dora Maar’s noted reluctance to smile for the camera, and Man Ray’s fascination with Black culture, described as "negrophilia."

While Thomasson accuses several male artists of mythmaking, exoticizing, and sexualizing the women in their circle—who were sometimes treated as interchangeable companions—she also suggests instances of consensual and collaborative relationships, citing Éluard’s encouragement for Nusch to engage intimately with his friends as a possible form of erotic partnership.

A distinguishing feature of *A Vast Horizon* is its extensive use of photographs, with the author relying heavily on visual evidence to narrate the intertwined lives of the group. However, the absence of many images in the published volume has drawn criticism, as the text’s vivid descriptions lack the accompanying photographic context that would allow readers to fully appreciate the nuances Thomasson emphasizes.

Ultimately, the book paints a picture of a fleeting era of artistic exuberance and liberated social mores on the eve of war, marked by moments of intimacy and creativity. While it offers fresh insights into the complex dynamics among some of the 20th century’s most celebrated cultural figures, the work leaves open questions about the interpretation of these relationships and the full impact of the era’s photographic legacy.