The House of Silk the possibilities of an Atlantic or a Niagara? Can he astonish us? Can he thrill us? Are there "the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis" that we yearn for? Emphatically, yes. In chapter one there is some mention of C. Auguste Dupin, a character developed by author Edgar Allan Poe, and his ability to make astounding deductions based on visible emotions reflected through the physical medium. Holmes demonstrates this by uncovering Watson's anxiety and the source thereof. This mention of Dupin is in itself a reference to a reference made by Conan
Jacques Dupin which represented Joan Miró, a close friend. The gallery also represented Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti, Francis Bacon and Wassily Kandinsky. Giacometti and Bacon both painted his portrait. Dupin wrote Miró's biography, numerous monographs on the artist's work, and was empowered by Miró's family to be the sole authenticating authority of the artist's work; a role that made him much sought after by collectors. In 1987, Dupin was the curator of a retrospective of Miró's work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the first such retrospective in New York since 1959. Jacques Dupin Jacques Dupin (4 March 1927, Privas, Ardèche –