Priceless

Priceless ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Mark Deakins
9:31

In his compelling memoir, Robert K. Wittman shares stories behind his recoveries of priceless art and antiquities: The golden armor of an ancient Peruvian warrior king, the Rodin sculpture that inspired the Impressionist movement,  the headdress Geronimo wore at his final pow-wow and a rare Civil War battle flag carried into battle by one of the nation’s first African-American regiments.  Rising from humble roots as the son of an antique dealer, Wittman built a 20-year career that was nothing short of extraordinary. He went undercover, usually unarmed, to catch art thieves, scammers, and black market traders in Paris and Philadelphia, Rio and Santa Fe, Miami and Madrid.

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Juliet

Juliet ♥ ♥ ♥
Cassandra Campbell
16 discs

Twenty-five-year-old Julie Jacobs is heartbroken over the death of her beloved Aunt Rose. But the shock goes even deeper when she learns that the woman who has been like a mother to her has left her entire estate to Julie’s twin sister. The only thing Julie receives is a key—one carried by her mother on the day she herself died—to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy.  This key sends Julie on a journey that will change her life forever—a journey into the troubled past of her ancestor Giulietta Tolomei.  In 1340, still reeling from the slaughter of her parents, Giulietta was smuggled into Siena, where she met a young man named Romeo. Their ill-fated love turned medieval Siena upside-down and went on to inspire generations of poets and artists, the story reaching its pinnacle in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

But six centuries have a way of catching up to the present, and Julie gradually begins to discover that here, in this ancient city, the past and present are hard to tell apart. The deeper she delves into the history of Romeo and Giulietta, and the closer she gets to the treasure they allegedly left behind, the greater the danger surrounding her—superstitions, ancient hostilities, and personal vendettas. As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in the unforgettable blood feud, she begins to fear that the notorious curse—“A plague on both your houses!”

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Provenance

Provenance: How a Con Man & a Forger re-wrote the History of Modern Art ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Marty Peterson
8 hrs 59 mins

In 1986, when struggling painter and single father John Myatt advertised copies of famous paintings, he never imagined he’d become a key player in one of Britain’s biggest art frauds. Myatt soon met John Drewe, who claimed to be a physicist and avid art collector. Soon Drewe, a silver-tongued con man, was passing off Myatt’s work as genuine, including paintings in the style of artists like Giacometti and Ben Nicholson. When buyers expressed concern about the works’ provenance, Drewe began the painstaking process of falsifying records of ownership. Posing as a benefactor, Drewe even planted false documents in the archives of London’s Tate Gallery, but suspicious historians and archivists eventually assisted Scotland Yard in bringing him to justice.  -Publisher’s Weekly

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Pictures at an Exhibition

Pictures at an Exhibition ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Mark Bramhall
7 discs

Born to an art dealer and his pianist wife, Max Berenzon is forbidden from entering the family’s business for reasons he cannot understand. He reluctantly attends medical school, reserving his true passion for his father’s beautiful gallery assistant, Rose. When Paris falls to the Nazis, the Berenzons survive in hiding, returning in 1944 to find that their priceless art collection has vanished. In Max’s obsessive hunt to recover his father’s paintings, he navigates a torn city of corrupt art dealers, black marketers, Râesistants, and collaborators, uncovering not only paintings but the stories of Rose’s heroism, and the truth behind a devastating family secret.

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Angelology

Angelology ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Susan Denaker
17 discs

When twenty-three-year-old Sister Evangeline accidentally stumbles upon some mysterious letters exchanged between the late mother superior of her convent and the famous philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller, she is thrust into an ancient conflict between the Society of Angelologists and the monstrously beautiful descendants of angels and humans, the Nephilim.

Note: It started out well with good character development, a  good plot, and a firm storyline – but somehow, somewhere it turned into a melodrama.  What could have been 4 out of 5 hearts sadly became 3.  Too bad.  Susan Denaker is an excellent narrator though.  I’m impressed with her abilities and hope to find her work again soon.

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The Lost Painting

The Lost Painting ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Campbell Scott
6 discs

In an Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, Francesca Cappelletti, a young graduate student from Rome, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries. The artist was Caravaggio, a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius, a revolutionary painter, and a man beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power.

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The Swan Thieves

The Swan Thieves ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Sarah Zimmerman, Treat Williams, Anne Heche, John Lee and Erin Corttrell
17 discs

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

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The Children’s Book

The Children’s Book ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Rosalyn Landor
24 discs

When Olive Wellwood’s oldest son discovers a runaway named Philip sketching in the basement of the new Victoria and Albert Museum, the talented working-class boy is introduced into a completely new world.   Olive takes Philip home to meet her family and friends all of whom could be characters out of one of  her magical tales.  Yet this world conceals more treachery and darkness than Philip has ever imagined and that will soon be eclipsed by far greater forces.

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The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Paul Michael
13 discs

This book describes the attempts of Robert Langdon, Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard, to solve the murder of renowned curator Killed at the Louvre.   A baffling cipher is found near his body. The Curator’s  granddaughter, Sophie Neveu and Langdon attempt to sort out the bizarre riddles and are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci.

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The Judgement of Paris

The Judgement of Paris ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Tristan Layton

Covering the years 1863 to 1874 when the  Impressionists were beginning to show their work, this book examines Parisian culture and art theory. The painting style in prominence at the time was that dictated by the French Academy and the usuall works depicted historical, mythological, or moral themes, which were yearly displayed in the annual Salon. However, in 1863 so many painters were refused entry into the Salon that a Salon de Refuses was established.

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