The Art Detective: Fakes, Frauds, and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasures
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.17 (852 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B0040Q1YXC |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 280 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-02-13 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In The Art Detective, Philip Mould, one of the world's foremost authorities on British portraiture and an irreverent and delightful expert for the Roadshow, serves up his secrets and his best stories, blending the technical details of art detection and restoration with juicy tales peopled by a range of eccentric collectors, scholars, forgers, and opportunities. The Art Detective is memoir, mystery, art history, and brilliant yarn all rolled into one.. Mould is known for his ability to crack the toughest puzzles, and whether he's writing about a fake Norman Rockwell, a hidden Rembrandt, or a lost Gainsborough, he brings both the art and the adventure to life. Mould is our trusty detective, tracking down clues, uncovering human foibles, and following hunches until the truth is revealed. What separates a masterpiece from a piece of junk? Thanks to the BBC's Antiques Roadshow and its American spin-off, everyone is searching garage sales and hunting online for hidden gems, wondering whether their attics contain trash or treasures. Each chapter focuses on one particular painting and the mystery that surrounds it
Behind the scenes Philip Mould takes a wonderfully interesting look at how art restoration works. But, in looking at restoration of existing paintings, he also delves into how he, as a gallery owner, along with his team, find work that has remained under-valued or unvalued for centuries. And then how that piece, now restored by Mould's experts, ventures back into the art world in renewed glory.Mould, an appraiser for the BBC's "Antique Roadshow", is also an owner of a gallery in London which specialises in antique portraits. As an aside, I have visited the gallery in the past to see his collection but did not know that this boo. B. J. Ford said Fascinating, entertaining, and insightful. “The Art Detective” by Philip Mould is a fascinating, entertaining, insightful look into the world of art galleries, discovery, restoration, dealing, collecting, and, to some extent, the creative process. Each of the six chapters is a well-written account focusing on the author’s own adventure involving the discovery of an important work of art: a hoard of old British portraits in Vermont, a Gainsborough, a Norman Rockwell, a Rembrandt, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (and another of Henry VIII’s brother, Arthur), and a Winslow Homer watercolor. Without revealing “spoilers”,. John E. Drury said art history presented as mystery. Philip Mould, one of the engaging intrepid experts on Antique Roadshow UK, gives the reader a short, intriguing book of art restoration and art re-discovery centered on his own experiences as a London based art dealer of English portraits. His six stories deal with Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Winslow Homer, a suspect portrait of Elizabeth I, his encounter with an eccentric New England collector/hoarder and a questionable painting by Norman Rockwell. Charged with the excitement of the chase, Mould, a mystery writer at heart, builds the stories on biographical insight, pace, his own expertise, his contacts i