Julian Isherwood

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Julian Isherwood was an art dealer who lived in London. He was a sayan for the Office. He also employed Gabriel Allon as a legitimate art restorer. Julian often calls Gabriel Allon, Petal, which for some reason doesn't seem to bother Gabriel.

Background

Julian's last name was originally Isakowitz. His father was an art dealer in Paris before World War II. As the Nazis tightened their grip on France, Samuel Isakowitz arranged for young Julian to be smuggled across the border into Spain by Basque shepherds and then to England, where Julian assumed an English name. Julian never saw his parents again and they were murdered in the concentration camp of Sobibór. Julian was a member of the Society of London Art Dealers. He owned and operated the "sometimes solvent" Isherwood Fine Arts. His attempt at expanding his operations to New York and Venice had failed. He employed art school graduates as receptionists, always for short periods; they invariably quit from boredom or because Julian did not pay them as promised.

Even though Julian keeps his past secret, the Office heard about his dramatic escape and recruited him as a sajan, a voluntary helper, in the 1970s. He only completed one assignment: He helped to give Gabriel Allon a believable believable backstory and to maintain it.

Key Events

The Kill Artist

Julian had hired Gabriel Allon to restore The Adoration of the Shepherds by Vecellio, an altar piece from a church in Venice. Julian told Ari Shamron where to find Gabriel after Ari promised to provide investment in Isherwood Fine Arts. Julian was facing the possibility of having to sell the assets of Isherwood Fine Arts to Oliver Dimbleby in a deal that would leave him working for Dimbleby. Gabriel Allon gave Julian cash provided for his operation and told him to reject Oliver's offer.

The English Assassin

Julian, at Ari Shamron's request, sends Gabriel to Switzerland to clean a painting for Augustus Rolfe. Julian did not know that Ari Shamron was behind the request because Rolfe had contacted the Office to say that he wanted to speak to Gabriel.

Gabriel visited Julian after an explosion at an art gallery in Paris. Julian told him the tale of the Third Reich's looting of the art works or Europe, how complicit the Swiss were in the looting and how uncooperative the Swiss were after the War.

Isherwood Fine Arts had been bugged by representatives of the Council of Rütli.

Prince of Fire

Jeremy Crabbe recognized Gabriel Allon as "Mario Delvecchio" and asked Julian about Gabriel's presence at an auction. Julian explained that Gabriel cleaned paintings for him. Julian purchased Daniel in the Lions' Den based on Gabriel Allon's assurance that is was actually the work of Rubens; he offered Gabriel £200,000 to clean the painting and Gabriel said he would let him know.

The Messenger

Gabriel Allon was restoring a painting for Julian when he was once again called to work for the Office because of a threat against Pope Paul VII. To assist in an operation against Islamic terrorists, Julian helped Gabriel gain access to a previously unknown painting by Vincent Van Gogh. Gabriel borrowed the painting from its owner, used it to bait a trap and eventually returned it to the owner. At the end of the operation, Julian temporarily closed his business in London and was hidden in another part of England.

The Rembrandt Affair

Julian has had an undocumented, uninsured painting by Rembrandt stolen while it was in the hands of the restorer, who was murdered. He asked Gabriel to find his painting.

House of Spies

Julian was arranged to have a date with a much younger woman called Fiona at the Ivy, a famous restaurant in London's West End, but she cancelled the date via SMS. After having left the hotel, Julian witnesses the terrorist attack in the theatre not far from the restaurant. He calls the police and then warns the guests inside the Ivy because he fears that the restaurant might be their next aim.

After having met with Brady Boswell, Julian meets with Gabriel inside his gallery. Gabriel, who knows about Julian's precarious financial situation, asks him to be the advisor of a Russian friend who wants to build up a collection of paintings. Julian is promised a provision for every painting the man buys with his help and assumes correctly that this has something to do with the recent terroristic attacks.

Trivia

• Julian kept a sketch of himself drawn in the late 1930s by Pablo Picasso.
• German by birth, French by upbringing, Jewish by religion.
• Arrived in London in 1942.
• He believes in love at the first sight.