THE GREAT DALI ART FRAUD AND OTHER DECPTIONS

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THE GREAT DALI ART FRAUD AND OTHER DECPTIONS

Name: THE GREAT DALI ART FRAUD AND OTHER DECPTIONS
Author: Lee Catterall
ISBN: 0-942637-63-1

by Lee Catterall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 12, 1992

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Greed more than art is the dominant theme of this overextended and overwritten but nonetheless engrossing exposÇ by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter who first broke this story of an international fine-art scam. According to Catterall, greed has pervaded the art world, and by the mid-80's it ruled art personages from Salvador Dali to shady dealers who produced and peddled so-called ``limited-edition'' graphics and sculptures, to ``art-for-investment'' buyers who viewed their ``collections'' on a par with pork-belly futures. Catterall unreels the tangled skein of his story as it stretches from the Costa Brava to Paris to Secaucus, New Jersey, to Beverly Hills to Waikiki. His overdetailing can try the reader's patience at times, but among the plethora of names, dates, locales, and inventory figures are enough startling facts to sustain interest. The author reveals, for example, that Peter Moore, a Dali ``secretary,'' estimated that by 1985 some 350,000 blank sheets of paper signed by the surrealist were in existence, ready to be imprinted with whatever images forgers decided would sell. Catterall explores the ins and outs of copyright sales; the underground network of fakes and forgeries; the pie-in-the-sky promises of self-proclaimed ``art consultants''; and experts' contradictory definitions of what constitutes an ``original'' print. Also portrayed: the half-sad, half-hilarious story of ``celebrity artists'' like Red Skelton. Far too long, but, still, a revealing cautionary tale that says much about American society in the past two decades. (Photographs—not seen.)

Pub Date: Nov. 12, 1992

ISBN: 0-942637-63-1

Page Count: 415

Publisher: Barricade

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.