Archive for the 'Books' Category

Art Thieves and Detectives

Another book I picked up at the Portland Art Museum in September was “The Rescue Artist,” by Edward Dolnick.

An entertaining whodonit about the theft of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” from the National Gallery in Oslo, I’d put the book down in the middle–distracted by the myriad other things in my life–until NetFlicks delivered “Stolen,” a very weird documentary about the theft of $300 million worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

In 1990, thieves absconded with 13 masterpieces — including works by Rembrandt and Vermeer — from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, pulling off the greatest art heist in U.S. history. Rebecca Dreyfus’s investigative documentary delves into this modern mystery, piecing together clues gleaned from archival documents, art critics, historians, collectors and informants (both… Continue reading

Published on Tuesday December 19, 2006 in Books, Movies and Nonfiction. 0 Comments

Running Away

When I was a young teenager, I read the most marvelous book. It was about a young girl who, with her brother, ran away from their home in Connecticut to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. The book detailed how they remained undiscovered for over a week, coming and going and tripping over a great mystery while secreted away themselves.

Over the years, I’ve often thought of the book but could never remember its name.

In September, Roger and took a brief honeymoon weekend in Portland, Maine. I’d always wanted to visit that city’s art museum, so that rainy Sunday we enjoyed the jazz brunch and post-impressionists exhibit. After we’d checked out a good deal of the museum (top notch), we spent a leisurely two hours in the museum gift… Continue reading

Published on Monday November 27, 2006 in Books and Fiction. 0 Comments