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Whereas coffee table books typically focus on a particular artist and the breadth of his/her works, this book focuses on those pieces that have been stolen from museums, action houses, and private homes around the world.
The title of this book comes from the mythical museum of all the stolen works of the world known as the “Lost Museum” or the “Museum of the Missing” to those who investigate art theft; the picture on the cover comes from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston where the largest art theft in the world remains unsolved.
Gardner, when she turned her collection into a museum, required that nothing about the collection be charged – paintings cannot be sold or moved. Empty frames of the stolen works have hung in the museum since the theft beckoning visitors to ponder over the whereabouts of these missing works. Having visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, I can attest that it gives the whole museum an eerie feeling. I was constantly distracted from those paintings that remain by the empty frames.
Subtitled “A History of Art Theft”, Houpt does a wonderful job tracing art theft throughout history from wartime plundering to the modern-day heists we’re used to seeing play out in the movies. Not only does Houpt examine why art disappears but he also explains why paintings, statues, and antiquities are not returned when found. The British Museum wanted to return art stolen from Jews by the Nazis but the British Supreme Court said the cultural value of this art outweighed any moral obligation to right the wrongs of the world. Of course, righting this wrong means the British Museum might be compelled to return antiquities plundered from Egypt. Interestingly enough, when I visited this particular museum, there was a large display about how the museum is working to prevent wartime looting from Iraq.
I certainly recommend this book if you are at all interested in art theft (or art history). It’s a great overview of the problem, summarizing historical and contemporary aspects with equal attention. I really appreciated the glossary of missing works (at least, those known as most thefts go unreported) with colored pictures and information on where and how the works were stolen.
Book Mentioned:
- Houpt, Simon. Museum of the Missing: A History of Art Theft. New York: Sterling, 2006. Print. 192 pgs. ISBN: 1402728298. Source: Library.
My youngest uncle has one of the largest, most eclectic collection of coffee table books I’ve ever seen. He told me during my most recent visit to his place that he actually doesn’t purchase the books for their content but rather for how well they match the decor. To each there own, I guess.
Subtitled “A History Of Uncommissioned Urban Art”, this book examines the rise and global reach of graffiti or urban art, if you are so inclined to call it. The book includes large colorful photographs of these unsanctioned works of art but is rarely accompanied by an explanation of what the picture or sign or words mean.
Perhaps that was my biggest complaint about the book. I didn’t always “get” what the artist was trying to say and some of the “art” really leaned towards the side of urban blight for me. Some of the artwork, particularly that in section entitled “Magical Thinking”, was just too out there for me.
I did, however, love the sections on urban art that makes political statements and the range the book includes. There’s pictures from the wall in Israel-Palestine and a picture asking if women have to get naked to be included in the Met. (Less than 5 percent of the artists in the Modern Art Sections are women but 85 percent of the nudes are female). Certainly worth a perusal.
(Note: You can preview 100 pages of the book at the publisher’s website.)
Book Mentioned:
- Seno, Ethel, ed. Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art. Köln: Taschen, 2010. Print. 320 pgs. ISBN: 3836509644. Source: Borrowed.
Subtitled “Inside the Sotheby’s-Christie’s Auction House Scandal”, Mason’s book introduced me an industry I knew very little about and a scandal I had never heard of. Introducing readers to multimillionaire tycoon Alfred Taubman, Dede Brooks (the CEO of Sotheby’s and the first woman to ever hold the position) and Christopher Davidge (the British CEO of Christie’s) as well as a whole host of other characters, Mason lays out how the world’s most famous auction houses cheated their clients out of millions with a price-fixing scheme.
Except I’m still not sure how exactly these two auction houses went about it; something about sliding commission scales not up for negotiation. It was clear to me from Mason’s book that the two CEOs were in collusion illegally. I just wasn’t sure exactly how the scheme was being carried out. It might had helped if I had noticed the charts at the back of the book at the beginning but, ultimately, there needed to be a stronger and clearer explanation of how commissions and pricing and percentages were defrauding buyers and sellers.
The severity of antitrust legislation in the United States is something I remember being drilled into my head in every U.S. history course I took in junior high and high school. Certainly these laws have been covered in my college economics courses! So I thought it was interested that Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of major, multinational corporations would have (or claim to have) no knowledge of these laws. That just seems so idiotic!
I said in this past Sunday Salon that I was waiting for the scandal to erupt and growing bored with the detailed coverage of the history of the two auction houses, their CEOs/Chairmen, and major employees. Having finished the book, I can tell you that the later is actually the better parts. The novel begins to lose its momentum by the time prosecution begins. The flip side of this, though, is that the reader will learn more than they ever wanted to know about the life and times of Taubman, Brooks, and Davidge among others.
Book Mentioned:
- Mason, Christopher. The Art of the Steal: Inside the Sotheby’s-Christie’s Auction House Scandal. New York: Berkley Books, 2004. Print. 406 pgs. ISBN: 0425202410. Source: PaperBackSwap.
On August 21, 1911 came a crime like none other: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Lourve. It was assumed Bertillon would quickly solve the mystery and retrieve the painting. It would not be so simple.
I thought the book would be focused on the Mona Lisa as the dust jacket claims; however, The Crimes of Paris offers a wealth of information about crimes, arts, and science in Paris — all held together by the 1911 kidnapping of the Mona Lisa. It’s an interesting concept for a book, especially since it serves a great scene setter for one of the most famous crimes in history, and at many times it reads nothing like a nonfiction book.
My only negative, and the thing that bothered me most about the book, is the fact that there is so much information — some of which I found fascinating and other I found lacking — and The Crimes of Paris has a tendency to go off on tangents. By all means explain to me why Pablo Picasso and other painters were suspected of stealing the Mona Lisa, but some of the crimes the Hooblers included was completely unnecessary and detracted from the overarching storyline. This plethora of information also irritated me in that the Mona Lisa theft was strung out for so long and blatantly ignored in some chapters.
Others’ Thoughts:
Book Mentioned:
- Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. The Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, Theft, and Detection. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009. 368 pgs. ISBN: 9780316017909. Source: Advanced review copy.
In mid-career, the celebrated Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer painted a girl wearing a turban and a pearl earring. This famous painting, Girl With a Pearl Earring, has been called the Dutch Mona Lisa. Sometimes she appears to be smiling sensuously, the other times she seems unbearably sad.
In seventeenth-century Delft, a strict social order reigns, dividing rich and poor, Catholic and Protestant, master and servant. When sixteen-year-old Griet goes to work as a maid in th home of the city’s most renowned painter, she is expected to know her place.
But in the Vermeer household, dominated by his mercurial wife and her formidable mother, Griet soon catches the eye of the master. Captivated by Griet’s quiet manner, intuitive spirit, and fascination with art, Vermeer begins to draw her into his world. As Griet becomes a vital part of Vermeer’s work, their growing intimacy spreads tension and deception in the ordered household and even, as the scandal seeps out, ripples into the town beyond.
Girl With a Pearl Earring is very well written with beautiful descriptions, and an obvious amount of research done on the time period and the painter, as well as painting techniques of the 1600s. Chevalier does such a wonderful job describing her setting, painting her characters, and bringing the reader into the work. The colors, the sounds, the smells, the emotions-all of them are brilliantly captured and terribly engrossing.
The sense of class distinctions is portrayed well, and Griet’s personality quirks (such as always keeping her hair covered) make her a more personable protagonist. The pressure of supporting her parents and dealing with the internal politics of the Vermeer family leads her to make some life-changing choices, feeling subject to the will of others. I almost wish the last chapter hadn’t been included – although it does wrap up some loose ends.
However, the characters, with the exception of the main character, Griet, are very one-sided. I wondered why Griet seemed to know so much more about life than anyone else in the book. It was not a fault of the narration, but I think a real oversight in the writing and took away from the novel.
Others’ Thoughts:
Book Mentioned:
- Chevalier, Tracy. Girl with a Pearl Earring. New York: Plume, 2005. Print. ISBN: 0452287022. Source: Purchased.
