About the Author:
Peter Watson was educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome. He has spent most of his life in newspapers, as a correspondent or an editor for the Sunday Times, The Times and the Observer, where he writes a weekly column on the art market. He has also written for the Spectator and is a contributor for the New York Times. In 1983, after posing as an international art dealer, he exposed a ring of art theives and smugglers moving stolen paintings from Italy to America. His investigation resulted in four people being convicted. His account, The Carvaggio Conspiracy was awarded a Gold Dagger by the British Crime Writers' Association. It was dramatised by the BBC, and nominated for an 'Emmy'. He has since published four thrillers set in the art world. Peter Watson lives in London and the south of France. His recreations are fishing, cricket and opera.
Synopsis:
This study begins with the dramatic immediacy of a blockbuster novel as the authur looks, behind-the-scenes, at the auction where Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr Gachet" was sold for $82.5 million. The author then turns back the clock to the rise of the modern art market - from a key Manet exhibition in 1882 through three critical eras (1882-1929, 1930-1956, 1957-1992). The book is full of anecdotes about the entrepreneurs, the rascals, the artists and collectors.
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