The Vivisector, published in 1970, is Patrick White's eighth and longest novel. White dedicated the novel to the painter Sidney Nolan but denied that the main character, Hurtle Duffield, was based on him. The novel is often considered a largely autobiographical work, detailing the creative pursuits of a dedicated artist and painter over the course of his life. It explores themes like suffering for one's art and the existential crisis faced by the artist.
White won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973, and in 2010 was named to the shortlist of the Lost Booker Prize of 1970. The novel has been lauded for its devoted, exhaustive rendering of the artistic life.
