Boston painter Claire Roth has survived financially by painting reproductions, so when influential gallery owner Aiden Markel arrives with a bizarre proposal--her own show if she will forge a copy of a Degas, one of the pictures stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum--she says yes. As she works, Claire and Aiden become lovers, but she doesn't tell him about her discovery that the stolen Degas is itself a copy. This knowledge is Claire's lifeline...

"The true story of the world's most prolific art thief--a spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, from the bestselling author of The Stranger in the Woods. For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly ten years--in museums and cathedrals all over Europe--Breitwieser,...

Presents instructions for drawing a variety of dogs and cats, including a bulldog, poodle, corgi, Siamese cat, and Calico cat.

"Tells the dark and compelling stories of iconic cultural objects that were stolen, smuggled or sold, and eventually returned back to their original owner. This book is structured as a series of vivid stories in which the reader joins the author as she uncovers a cultural treasure and follows its often-convoluted trail. Along the way author and reader encounter a cast of fascinating characters from the underbelly of the cultural world: unscrupulous...

"All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory. Exploring how this troubled memory works in Vietnam, the United States, Laos, Cambodia, and South Korea, the book deals specifically with the Vietnam War and also war in general. He reveals how war is a part of our identity, as individuals and as citizens of nations armed to the teeth. Venturing through literature, film, monuments, memorials, museums, and landscapes...

An indispensable and easy-to-follow companion for the intermediate art student, this concise guide focuses on how to capture the natural representation of the human hand in all its forms and motions. Over 100 clear and expertly rendered drawings help artists discover: • The subtle but crucial differences between hands of young and old, male and female • How to accurately draw hands engaged in a variety of activities • Skeletal and muscular depictions,...

An indispensable guide to creating woodcut masterpieces, this volume offers instructions ranging from using the simplest strokes to making intricate multicolor print blocks. Detailed, easy-to-follow instructions are complemented by ninety-eight illustrations, most of them in color. "I love the woodcut as a form of artistic expression because it requires the simplest materials and comparative muscular strength," observes author Hans Alexander Mueller....