Chasing Aphrodite : The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum

In recent years, several of America’s leading art museums have voluntarily given up their finest pieces of classical art to the governments of Italy and Greece. The monetary value is estimated at over half a billion dollars. Why would they be moved to such unheard-of generosity? The answer lies at the Getty, one of the world’s richest and most troubled museums, and scandalous revelations that it had been buying looted antiquities for decades. Drawing on a trove of confidential museum records and frank interviews, Felch and Frammolino give us a fly-on-the-wall account of the inner workings of a world-class museum and tell the story of the Getty’s dealings in the illegal antiquities trade. The outlandish characters and bad behavior could come straight from the pages of a thriller—the wealthy recluse founder, the cagey Italian art investigator, the playboy curator, the narcissist CEO—but their chilling effects on the rest of the art world have been all too real, as the authors show in novelistic detail. Fast-paced and compelling, Chasing Aphrodite exposes the layer of dirt beneath the polished façade of the museum business. A “thrilling, well-researched” account of years of scandal at the prestigious Getty Museum (Ulrich Boser, author of The Gardner Heist ). In recent years, several of America’s leading art museums have voluntarily given up their finest pieces of classical art to the governments of Italy and Greece. Why would they be moved to such unheard-of generosity? The answer lies at the Getty, one of the world’s richest and most troubled museums, and scandalous revelations that it had been buying looted antiquities for decades. Drawing on a trove of confidential museum records and candid interviews, these two journalists give us a fly-on-the-wall account of the inner workings of a world-class museum, and tell a story of outlandish characters and bad behavior that could come straight from the pages of a thriller. “In an authoritative account, two reporters who led a Los Angeles Times investigation reveal the details of the Getty Museum’s illicit purchases, from smugglers and fences, of looted Greek and Roman antiquities. . . . The authors offer an excellent recap of the museum’s misdeeds, brimming with tasty details of the scandal that motivated several of America’s leading art museums to voluntarily return to Italy and Greece some 100 classical antiquities worth more than half a billion dollars.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review “An astonishing and penetrating look into a veiled world where beauty and art are in constant competition with greed and hypocrisy. This engaging book will cast a fresh light on many of those gleaming objects you see in art museums.” —Jonathan Harr, author of The Lost Painting Drawing On A Trove Of Confidential Museum Records And Frank Interviews, Felch And Frammolino Give A Fly-on-the-wall Account Of The Inner Workings Of A World-class Museum And Tell The Story Of The Getty's Dealings In The Illegal Antiquities Trade. Fast-paced And Compelling, Chasing Aphrodite Exposes The Layer Of Dirt Beneath The Polished Facade Of The Museum Business. Pt. I. Windfalls And Cover-ups -- 1. The Lost Bronze -- 2. A Perfect Scheme -- 3. Too Moral -- 4. Worth The Price -- 5. An Awkward Debut -- 5. The Windblown Goddess -- 6. The Cult Of Persephone. Pt. Ii. The Temptation Of Marion True -- 8. The Aptly Named Dr. True -- 9. The Fleischman Collection -- 10. A Home In The Greek Islands -- 11. Conforti's Men -- 12. The Getty's Latest Treasure -- 13. Follow The Polaroids -- 14. A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing. Pt. Iii. After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness? -- 15. Troublesome Documents -- 16. Mountains And Molehills -- 17. Rogue Museums -- 18. The Reign Of Munitz -- 19. The April Fools' Day Indictment -- 20. Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous -- 21. True Believers -- 22. A Bright Line -- Epilogue: Beyond Ownership. Jason Felch And Ralph Frammolino. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. pt. I. windfalls and cover-ups -- 1. The lost bronze -- 2. A perfect scheme -- 3. Too moral -- 4. Worth the price -- 5. An awkward debut -- 5. The windblown goddess -- 6. The cult of Persephone.;Drawing on a trove of confidential museum records and frank interviews, Felch and Frammolino give a fly-on-the-wall account of the inner workings of a world-class museum and tell the story of the Getty's dealings in the illegal antiquities trade. Fast-paced and compelling, "Chasing Aphrodite" exposes the layer of dirt beneath the polished facade of the museum business.;pt. II. The temptation of Marion True -- 8. The aptly named Dr. True -- 9. The Fleischman Collection -- 10. A home in the Greek Islands -- 11. Conforti's men -- 12. The Getty's latest treasure -- 13. Follow the polaroids -- 14. A wolf in sheep's clothing.;pt. III. "After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- 15. Troublesome documents -- 16. Mountains and molehills -- 17. Rogue museums -- 18. The reign of Munitz -- 19. The April Fools' Day indictment -- 20. Lifestyles of the rich and famous -- 21. True believers -- 22. A bright line -- Epilogue: Beyond ownership.