The good, the bad, and the academic from my Art Crime library
Gearing up for next term’s master’s-level course in Art Crime (part of the University of Glasgow’s online PGCert in Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime; yes we’re accepting applications for next year) I’ve put together a list of Art Crime books for our students and I thought I might as well share the list here as well.
Understand that these modules don’t require anyone to buy specific books, we provide everything that’s needed, but so many of these can be bought for pennies on Amazon that some of the students have been setting up pretty tight Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime libraries. Sure, the academic books don’t cost pennies, but some of the older but still interesting pop ones are *ahem* a steal.
Clearly the list is incomplete so don’t be offended if your book isn’t on there. It is, quite literally, the contents of my art crime shelf with the fiction books extracted. I should do a whole extra post on art crime fiction. And I should post the Antiquities Trafficking list. All in good time. All in good time.
If you have any additions to the list, tell me on Twitter!
Academic Books
Aldrich, Megan (2012) Art and Authenticity
Bazley, Thomas (2010) Crimes of the Art World
Beech, Dave (2016) Art and Value: Art’s Economic Exceptionalism in Classical, Neoclassical and Marxist Economics
Briefel, Aviva (2006) The Deceivers: Art Forgery and Identity in the Nineteenth Century
Conklin, John (1994) Art Crime
Craddock, Paul (2009) Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes and Forgeries
Feigenbaum, Gail (2013) Provenance: An Alternative History of Art
Gamboni, Dario (2007) The Destruction of Art: Iconoclasm and Vandalism Since the French Revolution
Kerr, John (2015) The Securitization and Policing of Art Theft: The Case of London
Ragai, Jehan (2015) The Scientist and the Forger: Insights Into the Scientific Detection Of Forgery in Paintings
Velthuis, Olav (2007) Talking Prices: Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art
Pop Books
Adam, Georgina (2014) Big Bucks: The Explosion of the Art Market in the 21st Century
Allum, Marc ( 2015) The Collector’s Cabinet: Tales, Facts and Fictions From the World Of Antiques
Amore, Anthony M. (2015) The Art Of the Con: the Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries in the Art World,
Behrman, S.N. (2014) Duveen: The Story of the Most Spectacular Art Dealer of All Time
Blanding, Michael (2014) The Map Thief
Charney, Noah (2015) The Art of Forgery: The Minds, Motives and Methods of Master Forgers
Cumming, Laura (2016) The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velazquez
Dolnick, Edward (2008) The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
Findlay, Michael (2014) The Value of Art: Money, Power, Beauty
Forgy, Mark (2012) The Forger’s Apprentice: Life with the World’s Most Notorious Artist
Gekoski, Rick (2013) Lost, Stolen Or Shredded: Stories Of Missing Works Of Art and Literature
Gross, Michael (2009) Rogues’ Gallery: the Secret Story Of the Lust, Lies, Greed, and Betrayals That Made the Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Grundvig, James Ottar (2016) Breaking van Gogh: Saint-Remy, Forgery, and the $95 Million Fake at the Met
Hebborn, Erick (1991) Drawn to Trouble: The Forging of an Artist
Hook, Philip (2014) Breakfast at Sotheby’s: An A-z Of the Art World
Hoving, Thomas (1996) False Impressions: the Hunt For Big-time Art Fakes
Hoving, Thomas (1993) Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Irving, Clifford (1969) Fake: The Story of Elmyr De Hory, the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time
Keats, Jonathon (2013) Forged: Why Fakes are the Great Art of Our Age
Knelman, Joshua (2012) Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives Through the Secret World of Stolen Art
Kurkjian, Stephen (2015) Master Thieves: the Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World’s Greatest Art Heist
Lacey, Robert (1999) Sotheby’s: Bidding For Class
Lopez, Jonathan (2008) The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren
Perenyi, Ken (2012) Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger
Mason, Christopher (2005) The Art Of the Steal
Mould, Philip (2011) Sleuth: The Amazing Quest for Lost Art Treasures
Rathbone, Belinda (2014) The Boston Raphael: A Mysterious Painting, an Embattled Museum in an Era of Change, and a Daughter’s Search for the Truth
Salisbury, Laney (2010) Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art
Thompson, Don (2011) The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
Thornton, Sarah (2009) Seven Days In The Art World
van Rijn (1993) Hot Art, Cold Cash
Watson, Peter (1997) Sotheby’s: The Inside Story
Wittman, Robert (2011) Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures
Wynn, Franks (2006) I Was Vermeer: The Legend Of The Forger Who Swindled The Nazis