Description
A 2024 Summer Read in the Economist, Telegraph, Guardian, the i, and the Evening Standard 'An art world Great Gatsby, deliciously withering and dishy.' Patrick Radden Keefe 'Explosive ... the inside story of the biggest art fraud in American history' Guardian 'Liar's Poker, but for art' Economist 'A brilliant, devastating expose' William Boyd DECEPTION IS A FINE ART. When Orlando Whitfield first meets Inigo Philbrick, they are students dreaming of dealing art for a living. Their friendship lasts for fifteen years until one day, Inigo - by then the most successful dealer of his generation - disappears, accused of a fraud so gigantic and audacious it rocks the art world to its core. A sparklingly sharp memoir of greed, ambition and madness, All That Glitters will take you to the heart of the contemporary art world, a place wilder and wealthier than you could ever imagine.
Welcome to the contemporary art world: a ruthless and glamorous arena, where the rewards are limitless - if you can pay the price.
About the Author
Orlando Whitfield is a failed art dealer. His writing has appeared in the Paris Review, the Sunday Times, and the White Review. All That Glitters is his first book.
Reviews
Studded with blue-chip names, multi-million-dollar paintings, private jets and bottles of Dom Perignon '08, this tantalizing glimpse by a former dealer into the art world's most rarefied stratum doubles as a cautionary tale about a largely unregulated industry where hubris, greed and fraud abound * New York Times *
Exhilarating... Orlando Whitfield tells the story of his former friend's downfall in thrilling detail... Compulsively readable -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *
A lacerating critique of the contemporary art market ... All That Glitters is as compulsive as a thriller. It is literary dynamite - a blazing expose that cracks open an elite sphere cloaked in mystery and lays it mercilessly bare * Spectator *
A jaw-dropping romp through the absurd world of art dealing... All That Glitters is a hell of a read. * Irish Independent on Sunday *
Educational, entertaining and very enjoyable -- Marian Keyes
This is "Liar's Poker" for the art world. * The Economist *
A frank account of an unequal art-world friendship ... Whitfield strives to convey the absurdity and frivolity of the international art market, and the boundless opportunities for criminality its atmosphere creates -- Rosa Lyster * New Yorker *
The culture of discretion that enshrouds the art market obscures a multitude of sins, so it is bracing (and great fun) to watch Orlando Whitfield flout the code of silence to name names, cite prices, and reveal scams. All That Glitters is an art world GREAT GATSBY, deliciously withering and dishy, a parable about the price of beauty, the power of charisma, and the limits of friendship. -- Patrick Radden Keefe, author of * Empire of Pain *
An elegy for a friendship ... exceptionally accomplished ... Whitfield exposes the dubious financial mores of the very highest end of the contemporary market * Times Literary Supplement *
A highly readable and perceptive account of how contemporary art is bought and sold -- Philip Hook * Sunday Telegraph *
Ultra-vivid ... it reads like a true crime documentary * i Paper, Nonfiction Book of the Month *
Readers drawn to the book's promise of an insider's recollections of the art-dealing ecosystem will not be disappointed * The Art Newspaper *
Whitfield writes beguilingly and amusingly, enhanced by an art dealer's eye ... made me laugh out loud -- Nancy Durrant * Evening Standard *
The art world revealed in this delicious, sharp and often breathtaking memoir is one of excess and illusion those of us outside it can barely imagine, and Whitfield unveils it nimbly and wisely. Funny, juicy, wistful and sad, it's destined to be one of the books of 2024 -- Megan Nolan, author * Ordinary Human Failings *
Philbrick's story serves as a means for Whitfield masterfully to illuminate the opaque and mysterious art world for readers, explaining the shady operations of the commercial gallery system, the role and place of auction houses and, above all, the transformation of art into an asset class and a vehicle for investment: a mere entry on a ledger. For anybody curious to learn the grubby reality of the art market, Whitfield's memoir makes for essential reading. -- Matthew Mason * The Tablet *
Completely jaw-dropping and unputdownable -- 'The best new books to read in May 2024' * i News *
Explosive ... the inside story of the biggest art fraud in American history * Guardian *
The book of the year * The Fence *
One of the hottest memoirs of 2024 * Sunday Times Style *
A jaw-dropping, riveting true-crime memoir -- 'The 30 Best Books for Summer' * i Paper *
Book Information
ISBN 9781788169950
Author Orlando Whitfield
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 548g
Dimensions(mm) 320mm * 231mm * 30mm
Welcome to the contemporary art world: a ruthless and glamorous arena, where the rewards are limitless - if you can pay the price.
About the Author
Orlando Whitfield is a failed art dealer. His writing has appeared in the Paris Review, the Sunday Times, and the White Review. All That Glitters is his first book.
Reviews
Studded with blue-chip names, multi-million-dollar paintings, private jets and bottles of Dom Perignon '08, this tantalizing glimpse by a former dealer into the art world's most rarefied stratum doubles as a cautionary tale about a largely unregulated industry where hubris, greed and fraud abound * New York Times *
Exhilarating... Orlando Whitfield tells the story of his former friend's downfall in thrilling detail... Compulsively readable -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *
A lacerating critique of the contemporary art market ... All That Glitters is as compulsive as a thriller. It is literary dynamite - a blazing expose that cracks open an elite sphere cloaked in mystery and lays it mercilessly bare * Spectator *
A jaw-dropping romp through the absurd world of art dealing... All That Glitters is a hell of a read. * Irish Independent on Sunday *
Educational, entertaining and very enjoyable -- Marian Keyes
This is "Liar's Poker" for the art world. * The Economist *
A frank account of an unequal art-world friendship ... Whitfield strives to convey the absurdity and frivolity of the international art market, and the boundless opportunities for criminality its atmosphere creates -- Rosa Lyster * New Yorker *
The culture of discretion that enshrouds the art market obscures a multitude of sins, so it is bracing (and great fun) to watch Orlando Whitfield flout the code of silence to name names, cite prices, and reveal scams. All That Glitters is an art world GREAT GATSBY, deliciously withering and dishy, a parable about the price of beauty, the power of charisma, and the limits of friendship. -- Patrick Radden Keefe, author of * Empire of Pain *
An elegy for a friendship ... exceptionally accomplished ... Whitfield exposes the dubious financial mores of the very highest end of the contemporary market * Times Literary Supplement *
A highly readable and perceptive account of how contemporary art is bought and sold -- Philip Hook * Sunday Telegraph *
Ultra-vivid ... it reads like a true crime documentary * i Paper, Nonfiction Book of the Month *
Readers drawn to the book's promise of an insider's recollections of the art-dealing ecosystem will not be disappointed * The Art Newspaper *
Whitfield writes beguilingly and amusingly, enhanced by an art dealer's eye ... made me laugh out loud -- Nancy Durrant * Evening Standard *
The art world revealed in this delicious, sharp and often breathtaking memoir is one of excess and illusion those of us outside it can barely imagine, and Whitfield unveils it nimbly and wisely. Funny, juicy, wistful and sad, it's destined to be one of the books of 2024 -- Megan Nolan, author * Ordinary Human Failings *
Philbrick's story serves as a means for Whitfield masterfully to illuminate the opaque and mysterious art world for readers, explaining the shady operations of the commercial gallery system, the role and place of auction houses and, above all, the transformation of art into an asset class and a vehicle for investment: a mere entry on a ledger. For anybody curious to learn the grubby reality of the art market, Whitfield's memoir makes for essential reading. -- Matthew Mason * The Tablet *
Completely jaw-dropping and unputdownable -- 'The best new books to read in May 2024' * i News *
Explosive ... the inside story of the biggest art fraud in American history * Guardian *
The book of the year * The Fence *
One of the hottest memoirs of 2024 * Sunday Times Style *
A jaw-dropping, riveting true-crime memoir -- 'The 30 Best Books for Summer' * i Paper *
Book Information
ISBN 9781788169950
Author Orlando Whitfield
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 548g
Dimensions(mm) 320mm * 231mm * 30mm
