With uncharacteristic perseverance, and a grand departure from chick lit, I have just finished Noah Charney's The Art Thief. (Last book read was Shoe Addicts Anonymous. Pretty successful variation on the chick lit theme, I thought. Surprising.)
The stolen pieces:
and Malevich's White On White (source)
Yeah, I wouldn't know how to appreciate this. How does one tell if it's fake or real? As the Scotland Yard inspector in the book puts it, it's just white!
Have a go at this lost-art puzzle.
The Art Thief is a very clever book. It is so clever that I think I have to read it again another day to see the full picture, ha ha. There was this reviewer who said that he had to keep writing down what happened to which piece of painting to keep up with the story. For me, there were just one too many of these: forgeries, thefts and double-crossings. As another reviewer put it, the book is 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. In other words, too smart for my slow brain.
Nevertheless, it is an intriguing read (Rome-Paris-London plotline) and highly educational if one is interested in art history. I don't know much art history and it was wonderful for me that a lot of the 'educational' parts came from a funny lecturer in the book. It is also fast-paced (good!) and I have to say that it was quite a page-turner even when I was having to think twice or three times about some of the events. Interesting characters too.
The writer is a real art crime person (i.e. an expert in the area, not a criminal; teaches a course 'Trafficers, Thieves and Forgers') and so the art in the story is all real, I think.
The stolen pieces:
Caravaggio's Annunciation (source)
and Malevich's White On White (source) Yeah, I wouldn't know how to appreciate this. How does one tell if it's fake or real? As the Scotland Yard inspector in the book puts it, it's just white!Have a go at this lost-art puzzle.
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