Females in the Frame : Women, Art, and Crime

This book explores the untold history of women, art, and crime. It has long been widely accepted that women have not played an active role in the art crime world, or if they have, it has been the part of the victim or peacemaker. __Women, Art, and Crime__ overturns this understanding, as it investigates the female criminals who have destroyed, vandalised, stolen, and forged art, as well as those who have conned clients and committed white-collar crimes in their professional occupations in museums, libraries, and galleries. Whether prompted by a desire for revenge, for money, the instinct to protect a loved one, or simply as an act of quality control, this book delves into the various motivations and circumstances of women art criminals from a wide range of countries, including the UK, the USA, New Zealand, Romania, Germany, and France. Through a consideration of how we have come to perceive art crime and the gendered language associated with its documentation, this pioneering study questions why women have been left out of the discourse to date and how, by looking specifically at women, we can gain a more complete picture of art crime history. Acknowledgements 6 Author Note 7 Contents 8 List of Figures 9 Chapter 1 Introduction: Writing Alternative Art Histories 12 Bibliography 20 Chapter 2 Lady Destroyers 21 Jacqueline Bullmore 22 Violet Organ and Lucie Bayard 25 Clementine Churchill 26 Account One 31 Account Two 32 Account Three 33 Account Four 34 Patricia Cornwell 37 Lily Kempson 42 Bibliography 46 Chapter 3 The Mothers of All Art Crimes 48 Olive Greenhalgh 48 Olga Dogaru 51 Marielle Schwengel 54 Bibliography 63 Chapter 4 She Vandals 65 Tomoko Yonezu and the Mona Lisa 68 ‘A Russian Woman’ and the Mona Lisa 69 Valentine Contrel and Pope Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel 70 Rindy Sam and Phaedrus 75 Carmen Tisch and 1957-J-No.2 78 Cecilia Giménez and Ecce Homo 79 Mary Richardson and the Rokeby Venus 85 Bibliography 105 Chapter 5 The Art of The Con[wo]man 108 Mary Boone 109 Ann Freedman and Glarifa Rosales 112 Angela Hamblin 115 Claire Eatz 116 Germaine Curvers 119 Tatiana Khan 121 Petra Kujau 123 Bibliography 131 Chapter 6 The Light Fingered 133 Vilma Bautista and Monet’s Le Bassin aux Nymphéas 138 Kim Roberts Watson and Picasso’s Self-Portrait (Undated) and Ben Nicholson’s Still-Life (1945) 142 Rose Dugdale and Russborough House Art Collection Heist 145 Joan Howard the Amateur Archaeologist 153 The Baby Jesus 158 Bibliography 164 Chapter 7 Naming Rights 166 Elizabeth Durack Aka Eddie Burrup 168 Walter Keane Aka Margaret Keane 176 Bibliography 185 Chapter 8 The Professionals 187 Rebecca Streeter-Chen 189 Mimi Meyer 191 Larisa Zavadskaya 193 Elena Basner 195 Rose Valland 197 Bibliography 201 Chapter 9 Afterword: Making a Noise About the Silence 203 Bibliography 217 Index 219 Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: Writing Alternative Art Histories (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 1-9 Lady Destroyers (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 11-37 The Mothers of All Art Crimes (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 39-55 She Vandals (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 57-99 The Art of The Con[wo]man (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 101-125 The Light Fingered (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 127-159 Naming Rights (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 161-181 The Professionals (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 183-198 Afterword: Making a Noise About the Silence (Penelope Jackson)....Pages 199-214 Back Matter ....Pages 215-223 This book is available in audiobook format, narrated by Kerry Fox: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Females-in-the-Frame-Audiobook/B08PC6YSW1?asin=B08PC6YSW1&source_code=ASUOR22212112000M8This book explores the untold history of women, art, and crime.