-
Rogues' Gallery
- The Rise (And Occasional Fall) of Art Dealers, the Hidden Players in the History of Art
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
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Publisher's summary
Here for the first time is the history of art dealers, those extraordinary men and women who, over centuries (and almost entirely out of the public eye), built their profession on a singular skill: identifying the intangible but infinitely desirable qualities that characterize the greatest works of art - and finding clients for whom those qualities are irresistible.
Philip Hook's riveting narrative takes us from the early days of art dealing in Antwerp, where paintings were sold by weight, to the unassailable hauteur of contemporary galleries in New York, London, Paris, and beyond. Along the way, we meet a surprisingly wide-ranging cast of characters-from tailors, spies, and the occasional anarchist to scholars, aristocrats, and connoisseurs, some compelled by greed, some by their own vision of art - and some by the art of the deal. Among them are Joseph Duveen, who almost single-handedly brought the Old Masters to America; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, high priest of Cubism; and Peter Wilson, the charismatic Sotheby's chairman who made a theater of the auction room.
Rogues' Gallery bursts with unforgettable anecdotes and astute judgments about art and artists, honed by Hook's more than 40 years in the art market - making it essential listening for anyone interested in the hidden history of art.
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Performance
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What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.
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A simply wonderful book with a serious flaw
- By 11104 on 05-02-21
By: Will Gompertz
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The House of Rothschild, Volume 1
- Money's Prophets: 1798-1848
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 28 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In his rich and nuanced portrait of the remarkable, elusive Rothschild family, Niall Ferguson uncovers the secrets behind the family's phenomenal economic success. He reveals for the first time the details of the family's vast political network, which gave it access to and influence over many of the greatest statesmen of the age. And he tells a family saga, tracing the importance of unity and the profound role of Judaism in the lives of a dynasty that rose from the confines of the Frankfurt ghetto and later used its influence to assist oppressed Jews throughout Europe.
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Great research, poor narrative
- By Amaze on 04-30-19
By: Niall Ferguson
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Printer's Error
- Irreverent Stories from Book History
- By: Rebecca Romney, J. P. Romney
- Narrated by: J.P. Romney
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Since the Gutenberg Bible first went on sale in 1455, printing has been viewed as one of the highest achievements of human innovation. But the march of progress hasn't been smooth; downright bizarre is more like it. Printer's Error chronicles some of the strangest and most humorous episodes in the history of Western printing. Take, for example, the Gutenberg Bible. While the book is regarded as the first printed work in the Western world, Gutenberg's name doesn't appear anywhere on it.
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Porn for Ye Old Bibliophiles
- By George M. Liveakos on 03-24-17
By: Rebecca Romney, and others
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The Ugly Renaissance
- Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty
- By: Alexander Lee
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Renowned as a period of cultural rebirth and artistic innovation, the Renaissance is cloaked in a unique aura of beauty and brilliance. Its very name conjures up awe-inspiring images of an age of lofty ideals in which life imitated the fantastic artworks for which it has become famous. But behind the vast explosion of new art and culture lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity, and corruption that has more in common with the present day than anyone dares to admit.
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Author falls into the pit he digs for others
- By Sean on 01-23-16
By: Alexander Lee
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What the Ermine Saw
- The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo da Vinci's Most Mysterious Portrait
- By: Eden Collinsworth
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Five hundred and thirty years ago, a young woman sat before a Grecian-nosed artist known as Leonardo da Vinci. Her name was Cecilia Gallerani, and she was the young mistress of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan. Sforza was a brutal and clever man who was mindful that Leonardo’s genius would not only capture Cecilia’s beguiling beauty but also reflect the grandeur of his title. But when the portrait was finished, Leonardo’s brush strokes had conveyed something deeper by revealing the essence of Cecilia’s soul.
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So Many Names
- By Sue Solomon on 12-13-22
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Provenance
- How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art
- By: Laney Salisbury, Aly Sujo
- Narrated by: Marty Peterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is a tautly paced investigation of one the 20th century's most audacious art frauds, which generated hundreds of forgeries - many of them still hanging in prominent museums and private collections today. Provenance is the extraordinary narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate deceptions in art history.
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reads like a thriller
- By Andy on 04-26-10
By: Laney Salisbury, and others
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The Vanishing Velázquez
- A 19th Century Bookseller's Obsession with a Lost Masterpiece
- By: Laura Cumming
- Narrated by: Siobhan Redmond
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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When John Snare, a 19th-century provincial bookseller, traveled to a liquidation auction, he stumbled on a vivid portrait of King Charles I that defied any explanation. The Charles of the painting was young - too young to be king - and yet also too young to be painted by the Flemish painter to which the work was attributed. Snare had found something incredible - but what? His research brought him to Diego Velázquez, whose long-lost portrait of Prince Charles has eluded art experts for generations.
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A fascinating study of art history
- By Ron on 07-02-16
By: Laura Cumming
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The Image, 50th Anniversary Edition
- A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America
- By: Daniel J. Boorstin, Douglas Rushkoff - afterword
- Narrated by: Timothy Danko
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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First published in 1962, this wonderfully provocative book introduced the notion of "pseudo-events" - events such as press conferences and presidential debates, which are manufactured solely in order to be reported - and the contemporary definition of celebrity as "a person who is known for his well-knownness". Since then Daniel J. Boorstin's prophetic vision of an America inundated by its own illusions has become an essential resource for any listeners who wants to distinguish the manifold deceptions of our culture from its few enduring truths.
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Boorstin’s deep Conservative mindset reaches through every example in this book.
- By Christine on 10-12-20
By: Daniel J. Boorstin, and others
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The Lost Gutenberg
- The Astounding Story of One Book's Five-Hundred-Year Odyssey
- By: Margaret Leslie Davis
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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For rare-book collectors, an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible - of which there are fewer than 50 in existence - represents the ultimate prize. Here, Margaret Leslie Davis recounts five centuries in the life of one copy, from its creation by Johannes Gutenberg, through the hands of monks, an earl, the Worcestershire sauce king, and a nuclear physicist to its ultimate resting place, in a steel vault in Tokyo.
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Spare me
- By Dr. Small on 05-04-20
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Taking on the Trust
- The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller
- By: Steve Weinberg
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the rise of mega-corporations like Wal-Mart and Microsoft, Standard Oil controlled the oil industry with a monopolistic force unprecedented in American business history. Undaunted by the ruthless power of its owner, John D. Rockefeller, a fearless and ambitious reporter named Ida Minerva Tarbell confronted the company known simply as "The Trust".
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Annoying Narrator
- By Nate on 04-03-15
By: Steve Weinberg
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The Judgment of Paris
- The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism
- By: Ross King
- Narrated by: Tristan Layton
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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While the Civil War raged in America, another very different revolution was beginning to take shape across the Atlantic, in the studios of Paris. The artists who would make Impressionism the most popular art form in history were showing their first paintings amid scorn and derision from the French artistic establishment. Indeed, no artistic movement has ever been, at its inception, quite so controversial.
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Try this!
- By Robert on 10-28-08
By: Ross King
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The Secret of Chanel No. 5
- The Intimate History of the World's Most Famous Perfume
- By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
- Narrated by: Liz de Nesnera
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Every minute, someone buys an Art Deco-inspired, amber-hued bottle of Chanel No. 5. Considering that nearly ninety years have passed since No. 5’s creation, this statistic alone makes a compelling case for the perfume’s stature as the world’s most famous. However, its cultural impact might be even more staggering than its business success....
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Fascinating story with poor presentation at times
- By Nobody's business on 04-02-14
By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
What listeners say about Rogues' Gallery
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Rosemary Wells
- 05-05-19
Superb art history you never learned in college!
Wonderful narration and a very funny lively book filled with the people of their time and how they created art as s thriving business.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Cheryl L. Ring
- 03-12-18
Interesting listen!
Book overall was interesting, got more so as it discussed more recent history. The narrator was fine until he could not properly pronounce the “Gogh” in Van Gogh. He sounded like he had something stuck in his throat. Irritated me every time I heard it, I made it too the end of the book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Laura Beach
- 07-18-21
WELL DONE IF NARROW
Not much new research here, but author Philip Hook's lively prose style and deep knowledge of the art industry make this book successful. Narrator Nigel Patterson should not have attempted American accents. Everyone from Bernard Berenson to Albert Barnes sounds like an unlettered Texas oilman. Excruciating.
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