God’s Man

Gods’ ManGods’ Man is a novel in five parts, by Lynn Ward, published in 1929.

Synopsis
(1) An Artist, after returning from a harrowing sea escapade with paintings of the waves and sun, gives his last coin to a one legged beggar by the roadside. He then stops for a bowl of soup at an inn and attempts to pay with one of the paintings, which provokes the wrath of the owner, until a mysterious Stranger, dressed entirely in black, takes the painting, paying an exorbitant amount to the owner. He then offers the Artist a Brush, an easily recognized long brush that was used by the great masters of the ages (shown in montage) and that makes any art made with it (presumably) a masterwork. The Artist is offered a contract, which he eagerly signs.

(2) In the city, the author begins painting with the brush in an empty square, drawing gradually a huge crowd. An auctioneer strikes a handshake deal with the artist, then bids it for an extremely high amount. The artist is given a fancy new tie, a mistress, and a large amount of cash.

(3) The artist falls in love with the mistress, whom he is using as a model, but she reveals wordlessly that she only wants him for his money. Distraught, he leaves and wanders the city canyonlands, seeing everybody he meets as the auctioneer and the Mistress. He attempts to strangle the hallucination in rage, but is beaten by a cop and impounded. The auctioneer takes the remainder of his work and money back. At the last minute, the Artist uses that spiffy tie to strangle a prison guard bringing him food and escape. He now runs from a mob into the hills far from the city, and collapses in a haystack.

(4) He is rescued by the Girl, who is herding goats when she finds him and nurses him back to health. They quickly fall in love and tour a series of natural wonders. After an unclear amount of time, he goes to her, and assists in the birth of his Child. He is exuberant and full of praise at this point.

(5) The Artist, the Girl, and the Child are happy, skipping gaily through fields of heather. At one idyllic family scene, with the gender-unspecified child learning to paint from his/her father, the Mysterious stranger somehow arrives and calls the artist to finish the contract, which was assumedly a portrait of him. The Artist gladly obliges, they go to the hilly crests for the best lighting. During the painting, the Stranger removes his black mask. The Artist has a nasty shock slash heart attack, and appears to fall into the black abyss between the hills. The camera moves onto the stranger, and he is Death, with a skull for a face, who has tricked the Artist into a Faustian Bargain.