Sleuth: The Amazing Quest For Lost Art Treasures (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
A high-stakes art dealer often on the British Antiques Roadshow describes several instances of detecting or uncovering both frauds and treasures. He covers the unsuspected hoard of an eccentric New England collector, the true story behind a famously fake Rockwell, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I that would be worth millions if genuine, a missing Rembrandt, a Homer discovered in the trash, a lost Gainsborough, and more. He covers a lot about how art dealers and buyers try to determine whether or not a piece is genuine, whether it can be recovered from bad overpainting, how to use research to help establish provenance, and so forth.While I was annoyed that there was no resolution to the final section of the book (not really the author's fault, this being nonfiction), overall I just found this intriguing and engaging--real life detection, and with research to warm any librarian's heart. I wish I'd had a version with photos of the artwork (I listened to an audiobook), but I just looked them up online instead. Whilst the cases are incredibly interesting, I keep getting annoyed at the constant pretentiousness of the author. We're reminded on every other page that he knows this person and that person: "Maneuvering my way through the blooms and past some of the 227 exhibitors, a number of whom were friends and colleagues." I got it - he's clever, he's good at his job, he knows important people - stop drilling it into my head. I'm on the fourth chapter and still trying to get through the constant barrage of self-promotion.
What do You think about Sleuth: The Amazing Quest For Lost Art Treasures (2009)?
Entertaining and informative. Mould tells a great story.
—Tay22
Loved this. A nice non fiction read for art lovers.
—darkmoth1
