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Stealing The Mystic Lamb
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Book Synopsis Stealing the Mystic Lamb by : Noah Charney
Download or read book Stealing the Mystic Lamb written by Noah Charney and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2010-10-05 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece is on any art historian's list of the ten most important paintings ever made. Often referred to by the subject of its central panel, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, it represents the fulcrum between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is also the most frequently stolen artwork of all time. Since its completion in 1432, this twelve-panel oil painting has been looted in three different wars, burned, dismembered, forged, smuggled, illegally sold, censored, hidden, attacked by iconoclasts, hunted by the Nazis and Napoleon, used as a diplomatic tool, ransomed, rescued by Austrian double-agents, and stolen a total of thirteen times. In this fast-paced, real-life thriller, art historian Noah Charney unravels the stories of each of these thefts. In the process, he illuminates the whole fascinating history of art crime, and the psychological, ideological, religious, political, and social motivations that have led many men to covet this one masterpiece above all others.
Book Synopsis The Fate of the Masterpiece by : Noah Charney
Download or read book The Fate of the Masterpiece written by Noah Charney and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2014-02-01 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This short e-book, adapted from Noah Charney's book Stealing the Mystic Lamb, tells the dramatic story of the rescue of The Ghent Altarpiece from Nazi pillagers. As the Nazis stormed across Europe during the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of artworks disappeared in their wake. A group of Allied officers set off on the trail of Europe's vanished art treasures -- they were known as the Monuments Men. The investigations of the Monuments Men combined old-fashioned detective work, personal bravery, ingenuity, and a dose of good fortune. This is perhaps best exemplified in the story of the race to save the 12,000 stolen masterpieces that were kept in a secret art warehouse hidden deep inside a converted salt mine in the Austrian Alps. There awaited the treasures destined for Hitler's planned "super museum," which would contain every important artwork in the world. The prize of the collection, and the painting most desired by the Nazis, was Jan van Eyck's 1432 masterwork, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, also known as The Ghent Altarpiece. This massive masterpiece is considered the most influential painting ever made, and it is also the most-frequently stolen. This e-book single is adapted from Noah Charney's acclaimed book Stealing the Mystic Lamb: the True Story of the World's Most Coveted Masterpiece. It contains all of the material from that book on the Monuments Men and Nazi art theft during the Second World War, as told through the story of two Monuments Men, Robert Posey and Lincoln Kirstein, as they raced to save the Mystic Lamb and the other works in the salt mine from an SS officer who was determined to destroy all 12,000 masterpieces.
Book Synopsis The Medici Conspiracy by : Peter Watson
Download or read book The Medici Conspiracy written by Peter Watson and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2007-06-12 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story begins, as stories do in all good thrillers, with a botched robbery and a police chase. Eight Apuleian vases of the fourth century B.C. are discovered in the swimming pool of a German-based art smuggler. More valuable than the recovery of the vases, however, is the discovery of the smuggler's card index detailing his deals and dealers. It reveals the existence of a web of tombaroli -- tomb raiders -- who steal classical artifacts, and a network of dealers and smugglers who spirit them out of Italy and into the hands of wealthy collectors and museums. Peter Watson, a former investigative journalist for the London Sunday Times and author of two previous expos's of art world scandals, names the key figures in this network that has depleted Europe's classical artifacts. Among the loot are the irreplaceable and highly collectable vases of Euphronius, the equivalent in their field of the sculpture of Bernini or the painting of Michelangelo. The narrative leads to the doors of some major institutions: Sothebys, the Getty Museum in L.A., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York among them. Filled with great characters and human drama, The Medici Conspiracy authoritatively exposes another shameful round in one of the oldest games in the world: theft, smuggling and duplicitous dealing, all in the name of art.
Book Synopsis Stealing Mona Lisa by : Carson Morton
Download or read book Stealing Mona Lisa written by Carson Morton and published by Minotaur Books. This book was released on 2011-08-02 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when you mix a Parisian street orphan, a hot-tempered Spanish forger, a beautiful American pickpocket, an unloved wife, and one priceless painting? Charming Eduardo de Valfierno leads a comfortable life in Argentina, skillfully duping the nouveau riche with his unique brand of fraud. He offers them theft of priceless art, delivering instead impeccable forgeries. When an unexpected encounter with the enchanting Mrs. Hart pushes him into unfamiliar territory, he returns to the city he once loved but had to abandon–Paris. There, he must assemble his team for their greatest and most audacious heist yet: the Mona Lisa. This riveting narrative takes you deep into the heart of early 20th century Paris, its art world, and the legendary Louvre Museum. As the plot thickens with a team member disappearing and Mr. Hart's shadow looming in Paris, the crew must navigate unforeseen challenges and their own vulnerabilities to stay ahead. Inspired by the real-life theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, Stealing Mona Lisa captures the imagination with a blend of historical truth, mystery, and heart-stopping suspense that will leave you guessing till the very end.
Download or read book The Art Thief written by Noah Charney and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-09-02 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charney crafts an intellectual masterpiece--the mystery of three missing masterpieces that sends criminals and curators alike on a rollicking chase through the art galleries and auction houses of Europe.
Book Synopsis The Man Who Made Vermeers by : Jonathan Lopez
Download or read book The Man Who Made Vermeers written by Jonathan Lopez and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2009 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's a story that made Dutch painter Han van Meegeren famous worldwide when it broke at the end of World War II: A lifetime of disappointment drove him to forge Vermeers, one of which he sold to Hermann Goering in mockery of the Nazis. And it's a story that's been believed ever since. Too bad it isn't true. Jonathan Lopez has drawn on never-before-seen documents from dozens of archives to write a revelatory new biography of the world's most famous forger. Neither unappreciated artist nor antifascist hero, Van Meegeren emerges as an ingenious, dyed-in-the-wool crook--a talented Mr. Ripley armed with a paintbrush. Lopez explores a network of illicit commerce that operated across Europe: Not only was Van Meegeren a key player in that high-stakes game in the 1920s and '30s, landing fakes with famous collectors such as Andrew Mellon, but he and his associates later cashed in on the Nazi occupation. The Man Who Made Vermeers is a long-overdue unvarnishing of Van Meegeren's legend and a deliciously detailed story of deceit in the art world.
Download or read book Boom written by Michael Shnayerson and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2019-05-21 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The meteoric rise of the largest unregulated financial market in the world -- for contemporary art -- is driven by a few passionate, guileful, and very hard-nosed dealers. They can make and break careers and fortunes. The contemporary art market is an international juggernaut, throwing off multimillion-dollar deals as wealthy buyers move from fair to fair, auction to auction, party to glittering party. But none of it would happen without the dealers-the tastemakers who back emerging artists and steer them to success, often to see them picked off by a rival. Dealers operate within a private world of handshake agreements, negotiating for the highest commissions. Michael Shnayerson, a longtime contributing editor to Vanity Fair, writes the first ever definitive history of their activities. He has spoken to all of today's so-called mega dealers -- Larry Gagosian, David Zwirner, Arne and Marc Glimcher, and Iwan Wirth -- along with dozens of other dealers -- from Irving Blum to Gavin Brown -- who worked with the greatest artists of their times: Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, and more. This kaleidoscopic history begins in the mid-1940s in genteel poverty with a scattering of galleries in midtown Manhattan, takes us through the ramshackle 1950s studios of Coenties Slip, the hipster locations in SoHo and Chelsea, London's Bond Street, and across the terraces of Art Basel until today. Now, dealers and auctioneers are seeking the first billion-dollar painting. It hasn't happened yet, but they are confident they can push the price there soon.
Book Synopsis Stealing Rembrandts by : Anthony M. Amore
Download or read book Stealing Rembrandts written by Anthony M. Amore and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2011-07-05 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthony M. Amore and Tom Mashberg's Stealing Rembrandts is a spellbinding journey into the high-stakes world of art theft Today, art theft is one of the most profitable criminal enterprises in the world, exceeding $6 billion in losses to galleries and art collectors annually. And the masterpieces of Rembrandt van Rijn are some of the most frequently targeted. In Stealing Rembrandts, art security expert Anthony M. Amore and award-winning investigative reporter Tom Mashberg reveal the actors behind the major Rembrandt heists in the last century. Through thefts around the world - from Stockholm to Boston, Worcester to Ohio - the authors track daring entries and escapes from the world's most renowned museums. There are robbers who coolly walk off with multimillion dollar paintings; self-styled art experts who fall in love with the Dutch master and desire to own his art at all costs; and international criminal masterminds who don't hesitate to resort to violence. They also show how museums are thwarted in their ability to pursue the thieves - even going so far as to conduct investigations on their own, far away from the maddening crowd of police intervention, sparing no expense to save the priceless masterpieces. Stealing Rembrandts is an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind look at the black market of art theft, and how it compromises some of the greatest treasures the world has ever known.
Download or read book Priceless written by Robert K. Wittman and published by Crown. This book was released on 2011-06-07 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wall Street Journal called him “a living legend.” The London Times dubbed him “the most famous art detective in the world.” In Priceless, Robert K. Wittman, the founder of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, pulls back the curtain on his remarkable career for the first time, offering a real-life international thriller to rival The Thomas Crown Affair. Rising from humble roots as the son of an antique dealer, Wittman built a twenty-year career that was nothing short of extraordinary. He went undercover, usually unarmed, to catch art thieves, scammers, and black market traders in Paris and Philadelphia, Rio and Santa Fe, Miami and Madrid. In this page-turning memoir, Wittman fascinates with the stories behind his recoveries of priceless art and antiquities: The golden armor of an ancient Peruvian warrior king. The Rodin sculpture that inspired the Impressionist movement. The headdress Geronimo wore at his final Pow-Wow. The rare Civil War battle flag carried into battle by one of the nation’s first African-American regiments. The breadth of Wittman’s exploits is unmatched: He traveled the world to rescue paintings by Rockwell and Rembrandt, Pissarro, Monet and Picasso, often working undercover overseas at the whim of foreign governments. Closer to home, he recovered an original copy of the Bill of Rights and cracked the scam that rocked the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. By the FBI’s accounting, Wittman saved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art and antiquities. He says the statistic isn’t important. After all, who’s to say what is worth more --a Rembrandt self-portrait or an American flag carried into battle? They're both priceless. The art thieves and scammers Wittman caught run the gamut from rich to poor, smart to foolish, organized criminals to desperate loners. The smuggler who brought him a looted 6th-century treasure turned out to be a high-ranking diplomat. The appraiser who stole countless heirlooms from war heroes’ descendants was a slick, aristocratic con man. The museum janitor who made off with locks of George Washington's hair just wanted to make a few extra bucks, figuring no one would miss what he’d filched. In his final case, Wittman called on every bit of knowledge and experience in his arsenal to take on his greatest challenge: working undercover to track the vicious criminals behind what might be the most audacious art theft of all.
Book Synopsis Baxter's Explore the Book by : J. Sidlow Baxter
Download or read book Baxter's Explore the Book written by J. Sidlow Baxter and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2010-09-21 with total page 1846 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the Book is not a commentary with verse-by-verse annotations. Neither is it just a series of analyses and outlines. Rather, it is a complete Bible survey course. No one can finish this series of studies and remain unchanged. The reader will receive lifelong benefit and be enriched by these practical and understandable studies. Exposition, commentary, and practical application of the meaning and message of the Bible will be found throughout this giant volume. Bible students without any background in Bible study will find this book of immense help as will those who have spent much time studying the Scriptures, including pastors and teachers. Explore the Book is the result and culmination of a lifetime of dedicated Bible study and exposition on the part of Dr. Baxter. It shows throughout a deep awareness and appreciation of the grand themes of the gospel, as found from the opening book of the Bible through Revelation.
Book Synopsis The Museum of Lost Art by : Noah Charney
Download or read book The Museum of Lost Art written by Noah Charney and published by Phaidon Press. This book was released on 2018-05-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: True tales of lost art, built around case studies of famous works, their creators, and stories of disappearance and recovery From the bestselling author of The Art of Forgery comes this dynamic narrative that tells the fascinating stories of artworks stolen, looted, or destroyed in war, accidentally demolished or discarded, lost at sea or in natural disasters, or attacked by iconoclasts or vandals; works that were intentionally temporal, knowingly destroyed by the artists themselves or their patrons, covered over with paint or plaster, or recycled for their materials. An exciting read that spans the centuries and the continents.
Book Synopsis Amos Fortune, Free Man by : Elizabeth Yates
Download or read book Amos Fortune, Free Man written by Elizabeth Yates and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1989-05-01 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Newbery Medal Winner When Amos Fortune was only fifteen years old, he was captured by slave traders and brought to Massachusetts, where he was sold at auction. Although his freedom had been taken, Amos never lost his dinity and courage. For 45 years, Amos worked as a slave and dreamed of freedom. And, at age 60, he finally began to see those dreams come true. "The moving story of a life dedicated to the fight for freedom."—Booklist
Book Synopsis Kings of Colorado by : David E. Hilton
Download or read book Kings of Colorado written by David E. Hilton and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-01-03 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this heartfelt portrait of a bygone era, a man reflects on his troubled childhood at a boys' reformatory, where troubled youths care for wild horses as untamed as the boys themselves.
Book Synopsis The Devil in the Gallery by : Noah Charney
Download or read book The Devil in the Gallery written by Noah Charney and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-09-15 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It’s an in-depth look at varied time periods and artists, which readers interested in gossip, drama, or art history will enjoy." Library Journal, Starred Review Scandal, shock and rivalry all have negative connotations, don’t they? They can be catastrophic to businesses and individual careers. A whiff of scandal can turn a politician into a smoking ruin. But these potentially disastrous “negatives” can and have spurred the world of fine art to new heights. A look at the history of art tells us that rivalries have, in fact, not only benefited the course of art, from ancient times to the present, but have also helped shape our narrative of art, lending it a sense of drama that it might otherwise lack, and therefore drawing the interest of a public who might not be drawn to the objects alone. There would be no Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo had rival Raphael not tricked the pope into assigning him the commission, certain that Michelangelo, who had never before worked with frescoes, would botch the job and become a laughing stock. Scandal and shock have proven to be powerful weapons when harnessed and wielded willfully and well. That scandal is good for exposure has been so obviously the case that many artists have courted it intentionally, which we will define as shock: intentionally overturning expectations of the majority in a way that traditionalist find dismaying or upsetting, but which a certain minority avant-garde find exciting. From Damien Hirst presenting the public with a shark embalmed in formaldehyde and entombed in a glass case to Marcel Duchamp trying to convince the art community that a urinal is a great sculpture shock has been a key promotional tool. The Devil in the Gallery is a guided tour of the history of art through it scandals, rivalries, and shocking acts, each of which resulted in a positive step forward for art in general and, in most cases, for the careers of the artists in question. In addition to telling dozens of stories, lavishly illustrated in full color, of such dramatic moments and arguing how they not only affected the history of art but affected it for the better, we will also examine the proactive role of the recipients of these intentionally dramatic actions: The art historians, the critics and even you, the general public. The Devil likes to lurk in dark corners of the art world, morphing into many forms. Let us shed light upon him.
Download or read book Van Eyck written by Till-Holger Borchert and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This stunning compilation of the work of Jan van Eyck, the master Flemish painter, is being published to coincide with a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition in Ghent. Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (1390–1441) towered above his contemporaries. With his unprecedented technique, scientific knowledge, and unparalleled powers of observation, Van Eyck lifted oil painting to previously unknown heights and helped determine the course of Western art. In 2020, the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent will host the largest ever exhibition of Van Eyck’s work. Van Eyck: An Optical Revolution includes artwork by Van Eyck, several pieces from his studio, and international masterpieces from the late Middle Ages while making the world of Van Eyck more tangible than ever. This tie-in exhibition catalog unravels some of the myths that surround Van Eyck and his techniques, while showing his complete oeuvre and influence in a new perspective. Including essays by leading experts from around the world, Van Eyck will prove to be an indispensable resource for Van Eyck fans and scholars alike.
Book Synopsis The Art Of Seduction by : Robert Greene
Download or read book The Art Of Seduction written by Robert Greene and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2010-09-03 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Which sort of seducer could you be? Siren? Rake? Cold Coquette? Star? Comedian? Charismatic? Or Saint? This book will show you which. Charm, persuasion, the ability to create illusions: these are some of the many dazzling gifts of the Seducer, the compelling figure who is able to manipulate, mislead and give pleasure all at once. When raised to the level of art, seduction, an indirect and subtle form of power, has toppled empires, won elections and enslaved great minds. In this beautiful, sensually designed book, Greene unearths the two sides of seduction: the characters and the process. Discover who you, or your pursuer, most resembles. Learn, too, the pitfalls of the anti-Seducer. Immerse yourself in the twenty-four manoeuvres and strategies of the seductive process, the ritual by which a seducer gains mastery over their target. Understand how to 'Choose the Right Victim', 'Appear to Be an Object of Desire' and 'Confuse Desire and Reality'. In addition, Greene provides instruction on how to identify victims by type. Each fascinating character and each cunning tactic demonstrates a fundamental truth about who we are, and the targets we've become - or hope to win over. The Art of Seduction is an indispensable primer on the essence of one of history's greatest weapons and the ultimate power trip. From the internationally bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, Mastery, and The 33 Strategies Of War.
Book Synopsis The Thefts of the Mona Lisa by : Noah Charney
Download or read book The Thefts of the Mona Lisa written by Noah Charney and published by Arca. This book was released on 2011 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leonardo da Vinci's portrait, called the Mona Lisa, is without doubt the world's most famous painting. It achieved its fame not only because it is a remarkable example of Renaissance portraiture, created by an acclaimed artistic and scientific genius, but because of its criminal history. The Mona Lisa (also called La Gioconda or La Joconde) was stolen on 21 August 1911 by an Italian, Vincenzo Peruggia. Peruggia was under the mistaken impression that the Mona Lisa had been stolen from Italy during the Napoleonic era, and he wished to take back for Italy one of his country's greatest treasures. His successful theft of the painting from the Louvre, the farcical manhunt that followed, and Peruggia's subsequent trial in Florence were highly publicized, sparking the attention of the international media, and catapulting an already admired painting into stratospheric heights of fame. This book tells the art and criminal history of the Mona Lisa. This extended essay in book form, prepared to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 1911 theft, examines the criminal biography of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, with a focus on separating fact from fiction in the story of what is not only the most famous art heist in history, but which is the single most famous theft of all time. In the process this book also tells of Leonardo's creation of the Mona Lisa, discusses why it is so famous, and investigates two other events in its history of theft and renown. First, it examines the so-called "affaire des statuettes," in which Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire were arrested under suspicion of involvement in the theft of the Mona Lisa. Second, there has long been a question as to whether the Nazis stole the Mona Lisa during the Second World War-a question that this book seeks to resolve. This book provides a strong introduction to the Mona Lisa and the thefts surrounding it. "Noah Charney is the Sherlock Holmes of art theft. Beyond his great sleuthing prowess, he writes with the simple grace of a novelist and the erudition of a scholar. Here his subject could be no more dramatic: the impossible-but-true story of the most famous of all paintings, the Mona Lisa. It is a tale that bounces along, implicating the likes of Apollinaire, Picasso, the Nazis, and Nat King Cole. It is easy to pick up and very hard to put down." -Mark Lamster, author of Master of Shadows: the Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens "Deftly written and riveting to read." -Sidney Kirkpatrick, author of Hitler's Holy Relics "Few writers have brought the issue of art theft to the fore with the fervor of Noah Charney. With The Thefts of the Mona Lisa: On Stealing the World's Most Famous Painting, Charney has created a work that is equal parts lucid art history and thrilling true crime. Both the popular myths and the hidden truths surrounding the theft and recovery of Leonardo's seminal work provide art theft investigators and museum security directors with important lessons for solving-and preventing-art crime today." -Anthony Amore, art theft and security expert and author of Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists All profits from the sale of the print edition of this book support the charitable activities of ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, an international non-profit research group on art crime and cultural heritage protection.
