Lee Seldes

Well, this was fascinating. It was an eye witness account of the trial of Frank Lloyd, the hotshot gallery owner who was tried for his sharp dealings involving artist Mark Rothko's estate. It also has a brief biography of Rothko himself which was necessary as much of what Rothko stood for and believed about his work was central to why what Lloyd did with it after his death was so abhorrent. I knew very little about all these goings on even though Rothko is one of my favourite artists, so I was glued to it. It is a cautionary tale for artists about how people with no regard for your work beyond what it will fetch at auction should not be trusted with the things you value most in life. It is also, in part, a pretty bleak tale of the worst excesses of the human capacity for greed. But it is also the story of how Rothko's daughter Kate took on the elite art world, who really had no interest in seeing one of their biggest players exposed, and ultimately wrestled back control of a large part of her father's estate so that the work could be kept together and put on display to the general public, which was her father's deepest wish. All told with the flair of a courtroom drama novelist. Not just for art nuts, but amazing if you are.… (más)

This book is part art crime part biography. The first portion is a fairly impartial biography of the abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko. It provides enough information for the second part of the book on the lawsuit. If readers are looking for an evaluation on the artist's work I recommend Mark Rothko: From the Inside Out by Christopher Rothko. However, don't be fooled by beginning. The biography portion offers a clear history of Mark Rothko and the contributions he made to the art world. The second portion is the lawsuit following the artist's suicide. This case was used as a precedent to more large art frauds that followed. It sheds light onto the little know greed of the art world.

The writing can be confusing at sometimes as their are a lot of key people and they sometimes switch sides. There is a list of names at the beginning of the book that is very helpful. Other art crime books skim over the biographies of the artist but Lee Seldes's goes in depth with the Rothko biography to put the lawsuit into perspective.

Thankfully this is a thing of the past but there is the increasing threat of greed in the art world. It is a reminder to never let money be more important than morals.… (más)